Remember how we were taught ‘Energy can neither be created nor destroyed – It can only be transformed’?

“Energy balance refers to the tendency for total energy in a system to stay in equilibrium.

Any difference or delta between total energy input and total energy expenditure, over a set period of time, will change the energy stores of the body by an equal amount.”

Mathematically speaking,

Energy Input = Energy Output + Stored Energy

• If Energy Input is GREATER THAN Energy Output, then Stored Energy increases.
• If Energy Input is LOWER THAN Energy Output, then Stored Energy decreases.
• If Energy Input is EQUAL TO Energy Output, then there is NO CHANGE to Stored Energy.

Whew. Easy, right?

So what does this have to do with losing weight or building muscle?

Actually, it has everything to do with it. Your body’s appearance – the muscle and fat distribution on your body, is heavily influenced by your state of energy balance.

When your energy input is higher than energy output…

You are in an energy surplus or a caloric surplus. What does your body do with this surplus energy? Any energy that it cannot burn off through activity or body heat – will be stored on the body for use at a later time. It can be stored either as muscle or as fat, or a combination of both. We’ll get back to this in a second.

When your energy input is lower than energy output…

You are in an energy deficit or a caloric deficit. This means, that your body is not receiving enough energy or calories to support all the calorie-expending-activity that is being asked of it (exercise, physiological functioning, fidgeting, flicking the remote, etc.). In these cases – the body looks to it’s existing reserves – the fat and muscle that is stored on your body – to supply the extra energy that is required to make up this deficit.

So, basically, now you begin to see why energy, and therefore calories (the basic measure of energy, for those of you who forgot your Physics), are so important when it comes to changing the way your body looks. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – if you want to make a change to the way you look, you HAVE to start manipulating calories.

You don’t have to count them – You don’t even have to know what they are all the time – but you sure as hell have to ensure you’re managing that calorie balance, or you’re just wasting your time.

Energy Input

So – Energy Input – is basically all the energy that you consume, in the form of food and beverages. This includes anything and everything that you ingest – so we’re talking food, juice, beverages and alcohol. Every single thing that you consume contributes to the total energy intake – everything except water. Water has NO calories and therefore you could drink a billion liters of water and have no added calories on the Energy input side.

All the food and beverages that you consume basically come from one of four components, or a combination thereof.

• Carbohydrates, which produce 4 calories per gram
• Proteins that produce 4 calories per gram
• Fats that produce 9 calories per gram
• Alcohol that produces 7 calories per gram.

So if you were to analyze the macros (that’s what the components above are) in everything you ate, and added up the calories produced by each of them, you’d get your total energy intake., or Energy Input.

Energy Output

Energy Output – refers to the total energy that is burnt by the body, expressed in calories. There are four major ways in which the body burns calories.

1. Body Maintenance – called BMR or RMR: The body is the biggest consumer of calories – no surprise – and this is referred to as BMR (basal metabolic rate) or RMR (resting metabolic rate). This is basically the energy that is required by the body to stay alive and keep standard physiological functions running. It makes sense, right? Your brain, your heart, your kidneys, etc – even the blood flow through your arteries – all of this requires energy, nothing happens automatically – and all of this energy consumption is collectively referred to as BMR/RMR. The bigger your body, the more your RMR – again, this makes sense – because bigger things require more energy to perform the same function.

2. Digestion of Food: The process of breaking down food requires enough energy to be called out on it’s own. Basically, the body will require energy to facilitate the breakdown, digestion, absorption and excretion of food – and the amount of energy required varies quite a bit depending on what you eat. This is referred to as the Thermic Effect of Food. Typically, highly refined and processed food requires very little energy for digestion, and so they get absorbed quite easily. Natural food has more fiber and therefore requires more energy to process. And, among macros, fat has the lowest thermic effect while protein has the highest thermic effect. What this means is that you can manipulate the amount of energy you expend – simply by controlling what you eat. This is why when you try to lose weight, you are told to eat natural food that’s high in protein, because you are forcing your body to burn more energy to digest the food – and therefore leaving less energy for storage as fat.

3. Exercise Activity: This is the most straight-forward component – it refers to the energy that you burn off during exercise. Any form of exercise – whether running or swimming or lifting weights – will burn calories – and this is what most people focus on when trying to lose weight.

4. Non-Exercise Activity: This is the fourth and final part of the energy output side of the equation. And it’s the most commonly overlooked piece of the puzzle – it refers to all the energy that we burn outside the gym! We tend to forget that before and after we’re at the gym or wherever it is that we exercise – we still have lives to live. And all of that requires energy – this could include walking up stairs, cleaning the house, doing things at the office – and many unconscious activities like fidgeting, shaking your legs while reading a book, etc. This varies tremendously from individual to individual – some people are fairly sedentary and don’t burn a whole lot of calories this way, but small, hyperactive, skinny people tend to burn MASSIVE amounts of energy this way – these are the people who seem to eat a lot of food, don’t work out, but seemingly NEVER PUT ON WEIGHT. It’s because their non-exercise activity levels are through the roof.

Okay, Great – So What?

So now that all the theory is out of the way – what this mean for you? Simple. If you want to change the way your body looks, you need to make changes to the energy balance.

If you want to lose weight – decrease energy input or increase energy output or do both. So that means eat less food (energy input) and/or move more (energy output). Doing this will force the body to use it’s existing stored energy (stored as fat & muscle tissue) to restore energy balance.

If you want to gain weight – increase energy input or decrease energy output or do both. What does that mean? – Eat more food (energy input) and/or move less (energy output). Doing this will force the body to convert the extra/excess energy as stored energy (stored as fat & muscle tissue) to restore energy balance – because energy cannot be destroyed or created, just transformed!

Now, when losing weight, you only want to lose fat, not muscle. I mean, you could lose both if you wanted to but:

1. It’s less aesthetically pleasing to be just skinny – most people want to be lean and look fit, not like a bag of bones.

2. The more muscle you maintain on your body, the higher your RMR (energy output) will be, which allows you to eat more, which is always nice, right?

So, in order to get your body to focus on burning fat instead of muscle – you have to let your body know that the muscle is important – you do this by exercising and by eating protein. Exercising requires muscle tissue, and your body will realize that it needs to keep the muscle tissue intact to keep lifting loads (exercise) – and any muscle that IS lost to energy, will be replaced with the protein you consume. Now, you begin to see why people say it’s so important to LIFT WEIGHTS when trying to lose weight, and not just do cardio all the time. It’s to preserve muscle tissue.

Similarly – When gaining weight, you want to gain muscle, not fat.

You do this by exercising and eating protein. Same principle at work – the energy surplus that comes into the body will be preferentially directed towards muscle growth, to support all the heavy lifting you’re trying to do with your body.

Exceptions to the rule

Okay – so remember how, at the beginning of the article, I said the energy balance rule would work for 99% of all people? Who does it NOT work for?

Typically, the only people who seem to have an issue with losing/gaining weight while manipulating the energy balance – are people with some sort of larger issues with their hormonal functioning. One of the biggest culprits is improper Thyroid functioning, but there are others as well. For example, when people are subject to high levels of stress, they produce a hormone called cortisol, which also messes up stuff. Having said that, it’s not that the Energy Balance equation doesn’t apply to them (because it does, it’s a basic law of thermodynamics) – it’s just that there are other factors at play that alter the efficiency of the energy in/energy out model.

Another situation is where you see extremely obese people who seem to eat very little and still get bigger. Why? Because they’re special snowflakes, like their Mamas always told them?

Nope – it’s because these people are so sedentary and their bodies are covered with so much fat, that their energy output is STILL lower than their seemingly small energy input. Think about it. If you ate 1000 calories in a day (not a lot) and burnt only 800 calories during the day through the various channels (RMR, digestion, etc.) – YOU WOULD STILL GAIN WEIGHT.

To quote someone who’s work I read recently,

“Physics isn’t just a good idea, kids. It’s the Law.”

Final Words

So – if you’re trying to lose weight in the new year – before you try any new-fangled diet or supplement or shell out big bucks for some special program or spend hours at the gym…

• Think about your energy balance. Are you staying in a deficit?
• Are you working out (and burning 200-300 calories) but eliminating that deficit by eating shit that adds up to 1000 additional calories?
• Are you paying lots of money for special supplements and protein powders and fat-loss pills, but still eating so much food that you are staying calorie neutral?
• Are you swapping out 1 glass of cola (140 calories, primarily from sugar carbs) for 2 glasses of orange juice (220 calories, also from sugar carbs) and still not losing weight? What a surprise (sarcasm, in case you missed it)

For the guy who’s trying to build muscle…

• Are you killing it in the gym and pounding protein shakes but staying in calorie deficit or neutral? Remember that protein, in addition to only providing 4 calories per gram, is also very expensive to digest and so your body is burning more energy just digesting it – thereby impacting your calorie balance.
• Are you constantly complaining about how you’re eating a lot but actually it’s all low calorie high volume food?
• Are you eating enough and working out – but then you’re burning a bunch of calories cycling around the place or playing basketball for 2 hours after the gym – and then wondering why you’re not growing?

So – to summarize – if you’re trying to lose weight or build muscle – your first goal should be to get your energy balance in the right place – in a place that supports your goal.

Once you have that under control, THEN and ONLY THEN should you start to think about the other stuff like type of food, type of exercise, frequency of workouts, supplements, etc.

And even then – when it comes to food and exercise – there’s an order of importance to things – don’t focus on the small stuff and ignore the bigger, more important things. Read the articles I have written (links in the resource box, below) so you can learn exactly what you need to focus on to get results.

That’s it – this is the simple math behind physique transformation, and it’s what works for 99% of you.

And chances are that you’re in the 99%, even though your mom told you you were special.

Peace.

People all around the globe want to have a flat stomach desperately, and this is why they are increasingly opting for all natural weight loss supplements that promise quick results without any side effects.

You can also find several diet pills that are useless as they increase the risk of heart attacks and diabetes. No matter how strongly a pill claims to reduce your weight fast, you must understand that there is no magic pill that will melt away the pounds.

A natural supplement is a good alternative for those people who want to stay away from chemical-based, harmful weight loss supplements that damage heart valves. Thus, all natural weight loss supplements are safer alternative to losing body weight. It is also important that you are positive towards losing weight if you want the natural supplement to work fast.

Selling natural supplements to lose those extra pounds is a big business in the U.S. as Americans spend billions of dollars on such remedies. Even Hollywood celebrities promote all natural weight loss supplements and programs. However, one key aspect of herbal weight loss supplement is that the FDA department that is responsible for drug safety does not check natural supplements. Thus, as a consumer, you need to be extra careful before you buy any weight loss supplement as the claims made by the manufacturer can be false.

Medical research suggests that the topmost method to attain flat stomach is by restricting the calorie intake and increasing the physical activity. Turning to diet pills that artificially stimulate the metabolism to lose weight can do more harm than good. So, always trust only natural supplements.

There are several natural ingredients used in natural weight loss supplements, so when buying one you must look for them. Take a look.

• Green tea extract is commonly used in herbal supplements as it helps to speed up your metabolism and burn fat. It is a powerful supplement to kick-start slow metabolism. According to research, green tea can increase burning of calories while you are resting by 4%.

• Another natural ingredient is Hoodia that is a natural appetite suppressant.

• Glucomannan (extracted from the Konjac plant) is yet another ingredient that slows the rate of absorption of carbohydrates and also works as an appetite suppressant.

• The two effective natural supplements that are used to reduce blood sugar are l-arabinose and chromium. Both help decrease blood sugar by reducing sugar enzyme action and removing glucose from the blood by shifting it to the cells where it is transformed to energy.

• More natural supplements that help lose weight are white bean extract and irvingia. They help in managing diabetes and reducing weight.

Turning to dangerous fad diets and pills to lose weight can result in serious consequences. So it is best to eat a healthy diet and follow regular exercise regime combined with ONLY all natural weight loss supplements to get the body of your dreams.

The good news is that you don’t need a diet program to tell you how to lose weight. We have really complicated life by allowing ourselves to be sucked into the general “diet” beliefs, such as counting calories to lose weight, low-fat foods to lose weight, sugar-free foods to lose weight – the list goes on. But all you really need to know to lose weight naturally and effortlessly is what foods to eat, what exercise to do, and how to change the way you think about food.

What food should you eat to lose weight?

I once went on a 3 month natural raw food diet. The only cooked food I ate was a little feta cheese and chickpeas. I lost a lot of weight and felt really good! It was so liberating being on this raw food diet, because I stopped thinking about dieting and losing weight, and just ate whatever I wanted – as long as it was raw and natural. I can say quite comfortably, that you can eat the following in any amount whatsoever, as long as you stick to what’s on this list – the rule of thumb is that it simply has to be any unprocessed, unrefined food, so I may have left off a few foods, but be your own judge.

Food combining (not eating specific foods together) also works well, because it ensures fast digestion, which influences weight loss.

But the most important aspect to losing weight naturally, is to eat what God intended the human body to consume – natural, whole foods free of additives and other toxins. In other words, the best foods to eat are those which rot in a couple of days. This of course, does not include tinned veggies which can last for years! Please understand that if something has a long shelf-life, you have to ask yourself what’s been added to it to make it last!

Here is a list of what’s good for your body, and which will help you lose weight almost automatically:

Vegetables:

Gem squash, peas, corn, onion, garlic, broccoli, baby marrows (zucchini), cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage, peppers, carrots, butternut, pumpkin, pattie pans, baby gems, rhubarb, asparagus, mushrooms, artichokes, beetroot, celery, collard greens, spinach, cucumbers, eggplant, ginger, green beans, kale, leeks, spring onions, lettuce, olives, tomatoes

Herbs:

Dill, fennel, rocket, parsley, mint, basil, rosemary, thyme

Nuts: (must be raw, never salted)

Almonds, cashews, macadamias, brazil nuts, pecans, walnuts

Seeds: (must be raw, never salted)

Flax seeds (preferably crushed or the body cannot make use fully of all their goodness), pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds

Fruit:

Figs, grapefruit, naartjies, apples, lemons, grapes, kiwis, limes, oranges, papayas, pears, pineapples, cherries, plums, prunes, raisins, mango, raspberries, strawberries, watermelon, blueberries, bananas, apricots, peaches, cranberries

Fats:

Cold pressed olive oil, cold pressed sunflower oil, cold pressed flax seed oil, hemp seed oil

Herbal teas:

All herbal teas – check that nothing processed has been added (like flavourants)

Sweeteners:

Honey, stevia, agave syrup, xylitol

Sprouts:

All sprouts

Carbohydrates:

Sweet potatoes, brown rice, unrefined oats, potatoes

Beans and legumes:

Black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, lima beans, navy beans, pinto beans, soybeans

Use sparingly, if at all:

Meat, chicken, fish, dressings, sauces, butter, cow’s milk, cheese

Do not use:

All processed foods (sweets, savoury snacks, chips, cereal bars, white bread, white flour, fatty meats, processed meats, margarines, artificial sweeteners (aspartame)

What exercise should you be doing to lose weight?

Different exercises do different things for the body. Ideally, you need a combination of cardio (anything that makes your heart beat faster), as well as weights and stretching. You should be doing a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise a day, and you should be exerting your body in these exercises, which means a bit of heavy breathing and perspiration!

Changing the way you think about food:

This is key for permanent weight loss. Food needs to be thought of as necessary for survival. It should not be used to fulfil an emptiness inside, or as entertainment when bored, or for comfort. As I mentioned, I went on a 3 month raw food diet, but I had not addressed the way I related to food, so when I ended the raw food diet, I put on all the weight I had lost, and more. Without addressing this vital aspect, you are not likely to lose weight permanently.

Once you have grasped the simplicity of eating for nutritional value, together with portion control, your life will be made far more simple and instead of counting calories for each meal, you can begin to start living your life and doing far more important things than measuring fat grams!

In this article I would like to talk about 4 powerful spices and herbs that you should add to your diet to help lose belly fat faster.

To lose weight, lose belly fat, gain lean muscle, and improve your overall health, it is obviously very important to make sure you are getting plenty of water daily, plenty of sleep every night, exercising (cardio + weight training), eat several small meals daily, and eat the proper foods. The proper foods in general categories would be fiber, complex carbohydrates, fruits & veggies, protein, and healthy fats. However, to amp up those foods for an even more powerful belly fat burning effect, you should add these 4 herbs and spices a long with some of your foods.

Here are the 4 herbs & spices in no particular order:

1. Ginger: Causes your tissues to use more energy thus burning more calories. Ginger is also good for improving joint functionality, controlling cholesterol, and several other health conditions.

2. Cinnamon: Mm mm! I do not eat one bowl of oatmeal without adding cinnamon! Studies have shown that cinnamon has a positive effect on your blood sugar level. It also is a great source of fiber and calcium which are highly important in your efforts to lose weight and build muscle. Here is a little tip. Now this may take some getting used to, but, to substitute sugar in your coffee, try adding one teaspoon of cinnamon instead. Your coffee may not have that sweet flavor you were used to, however, cinnamon will remove the bitter taste of plain coffee and you are reducing your sugar intake.

3. Cayenne Pepper: I love cayenne pepper on grilled chicken! Studies have indicated that cayenne pepper (also known as chili pepper, red pepper, or paprika) has the ability to boost your metabolism to burn off fat. It is also proven that cayenne pepper can also help in reducing your appetite. It is recommended to get about 20-30 grams a day for maximum benefits.

4. Ginseng: A powerful substance that can increase energy, boost your metabolism, increase strength, and increase endurance. This substance is highly recommended for people who are overweight and suffer from excessive water weight. Ginseng can also be used as a remedy for several other health conditions such as high blood pressure and so much more.

Add those spices to your current health foods and experience an extra boost in how quickly you can lose belly fat, lose weight, and improve your complete overall health!

Use the benefit of jogging exercise to lose love handles

If you are anything like I was many years ago you might describe yourself as ‘cuddly’ or ‘huggable’. Anything to disguise the fact that you’re a little overweight and have a few rolls of unsightly fat around your middle. If this is you then you might want to learn the secret of how to get rid of love handles.

Sorry, there’s no secret way to eliminate love handles but I can tell you about how I managed to lose my love handle fat. It didn’t happen overnight and I did have to work at it but slowly the fat around my middle and other parts of my body started to melt away and I’ve managed to stay reasonably lean for many years now.

Nutrition and exercise is the key to losing love handles

I didn’t know much about nutrition and exercise at the time and I still don’t know that much but I did know that you need to do some exercise. Any exercise is better than none right? I also knew that the more calories you eat the more fat accumulates on your body. I’ve no idea why it all seems to go on around your middle first but it seems to be very common.

The first thing I did was cut down the size of my meals to reduce my calorie intake. This is very difficult to do if you have a low metabolism like I do because you don’t have to eat much before you start putting on weight. This means that you probably don’t eat much to start with. You can also make adjustments to the things you eat to help you lose fat. For more about nutrition see this article: Food To Help You Lose Weight.

The next step is to introduce some regular exercise. This will burn off some of the calories that you consume allowing you to at least eat something. When you decide what type of exercise you are going to do you should pick something that you’ll enjoy doing and can see yourself doing regularly and consistently. That way you’ll be able to keep it up for a long time to come.

Jogging to lose weight

I chose to start jogging. I wanted to lose body fat all over but I was most concerned about my love handles. I also knew that I would enjoy jogging in the park along the riverbank. Pleasant surroundings is a definite bonus and incentive to keep going as are the occasions when I happen to meet a girl jogging and swap weight loss notes.

Your weight loss from jogging

Exactly how many calories you’ll burn by jogging depends on a number of factors. The heavier you are and the faster you run, the more calories you’ll burn. A rule of thumb estimate suggests that jogging for weight loss will burn off roughly 10 calories per minute. You can use this estimate to work out how much jogging you are going to need to do.

The calorie burned jogging in 30-minutes 6 times a week will be roughly 1800 calories a week. Another rough rule of thumb suggests that 1 pound of body fat is equal to 3500 calories. At this rate you should lose about 1 pound of weight every 2 weeks, which is a very slow but healthy way to lose weight. This assumes of course that your weight was stable before you took up the exercise and that you don’t eat more than you did before.

It was a slow process but over time it did show me how to get rid of love handles because they eventually disappeared. I still enjoy the jogging to this day and my love handles have never returned.

The world at large has experienced a new awakening to the benefits of green tea. Amongst the various health benefits that this wonderful drink of nature has is its ability to enhance the weight loss process.

Authentic green tea works to enhance the metabolism in the body. The various beneficial substances in green tea stimulate the process known as thermogenesis. This in turn helps to expend more energy as a result of which more calories are lost.

With a wave of scientific tests being conducted on the medicinal properties of green tea the world has now been assured that it is indeed a super drink with multiple benefits. From preventing the development of various cancers and blood clots to enhancing the process of weight loss green tea is being used for various purposes today.

Many people are not very amused by the taste of green tea when they first try it for weight loss. But then again green tea is not meant to be something you take for leisure. You need to take it as a medicine and according to the way that is best for your desired purpose.

The guidelines

The first and foremost don’t is not to add sugar. The addition of sugar greatly diminishes the effects of green tea hence making it useless for the person looking to lose weight at good speed. Furthermore green tea does not taste very good with sugar as it is.

What you can do is add natural sugar instead. You can get a packet of passion fruit and pour in a couple of tea spoons of passion fruit into your green tea. You can even make use of honey to sweeten green tea but nothing compares to the taste with passion fruit.

Another thing that you need to make sure is that you stir it very thoroughly. So much so that the sweetness completely embodies it self in the tea otherwise the tea is likely to retain its bitter taste to a certain extent.

Many people prefer to have iced green tea. You can cool down your green tea by adding some ice and enjoy the drink while it works wonders on your body.

Although one can manage the taste of green tea indeed some people fall in love with it, however if you cant bear the taste then you do have an alternative. This alternative comes in the shape of diet pills.

One thing that you need to exercise caution with is selecting the green tea. Due to the immense popularity of green tea in recent years you will find many shady companies trying to capitalize on the trend by selling tea that looks like green tea but it that isn’t quite the case.

Therefore you should always go for a brand that is trusted for producing good quality green tea with a minimum use of chemicals. Chinese companies are far more trustworthy than the local ones as they provide you with real green tea.

Health And Fitness:

Mostly people do not realize, the importance of good health. As someone said, Health is wealth. Better health is essential for daily tasks. When discussing about health, many people consider the condition of their bodies and forget about their minds. While, health is not only being free from physical aspects. It also means being healthy in mind too. An unhealthy mind brings about an unhealthy body. Good mental health helps you to benefit as much as possible from life and enjoy it. Good mental health offers you a feeling of well-being and the inner strength needed in times of bad position. Everyone knows how to care for their bodies. This is done almost every day by the great part of people. Exercise and eating the proper foods are the right ways of keeping the body healthy. A healthy mind requires a lot of work, in addition, a combination of the right foods and exercise.

The following factors which will greatly affect your health.

Exercise As Young Adults Lowers Heart Health Decades Later:

Young adults who exercise may have a lower risk of cardiovascular illness and higher survival chances decades later. Fitness has long been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease in older adults. The new study, in any case, that workout routines started years before cardiovascular problems are usually encountered may help keep them from creating in any case.

Lifting Weights Builds Mental Muscle That Gives You Health:

Older adults who have psychological disability or could be at risk towards the weight room. A study by researchers in Australia has found that dynamic quality preparing is useful in boosting brain power. The study tested 100 adults aged 55 and older who had been determined to have mellow psychological weakness. According to the Mayo Clinic, MCI affects memory, thinking and also judgment behind normal levels of age-related decline. The condition may build a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Dieting Success May Lead To Better Health:

Ability to self-manage a healthy body weight may depend on individual brain structure, say scientists in a recent study looking connections between executive control and reward areas in the brain.

Obesity and dieting:

Obesity and dieting are progressively basic in contemporary society, and many dieters struggle to lose excess weight. An examination paper in Cognitive Neuroscience reports that eating less may be easier for some people.

Chronic dieters:

Chronic dieters are known to indicate increase reactions to food in executive control and reward areas of the brain. Additionally having depleted cognitive control and higher tendency to over reward themselves with high- calorie foods in real-life conditions.

Eating healthy, after all, is not about losing your ability to enjoy your life. It’s a reason of gaining so many things that will affect you for the rest of your life: a longer life, the ability to enjoy foods that it does for you.

Is the sound of the phrase keeping fit enough to make you want to turn over in bed and wrap the sheets around yourself even tighter? Do you eat whatever food comes your way, and when you find none, eat whatever you can find at the nearest fast food joint? Are you too tired to even take out the trash when you get home from work?

You've been bitten by the lazy bug!

What's the lazy bug? Most would define the lazy bug by the symptoms (and others like these) outlined above. And why is the lazy bug dangerous? Well, because it makes you prone to:

1) Heart disease
2) Insomnia
3) Diminished mental freshness
4) Blood pressure
5) Obesity
6) Diabetes
7) Weak bones and muscles

… And the list can go on and on. Not to mention the strain these issues could have on your wallet and mind.

Do I have your attention yet? Well, this problem is very real, and very serious, but there is hope yet. If you want a quick way to help you get back on track and feel at your physical best ever, finding a rapid weight loss boot camp near you could be your best remedy for the lazy bug.

Why A Rapid Weight Loss Boot Camp?

Well, if you're like a majority of the population, you probably do not have the time to wait for results. You want results fast, and you're willing to challenge your body to get into optimum shape. Getting fit at a rapid weight loss boot camp is one activity where you invest completely in yourself, with results that more than just satisfy. The activities are fun, with certified rapid weight loss boot camp trainers guiding you every step of the way. They're also designed to challenge your body to get out of its comfort zone. That way, your body is in continual fat-burning mode. A rapid weight loss boot camp is a great way to stay fit because the activities are planned so that other participants are also your support group, and so you're also socializing while you're burning away the fat. A rapid weight loss boot camp trainer is also there to help out chose the best diet plan to keep your energy levels up and increase your body's metabolism.

Getting fit is the way to go, especially if you've been a slave to smoking and drinking habits. There's no better way kick a bad habit than replacing it with a good one. The prescribed rapid weight loss boot camp exercise and diet plan can help to rehabilitate your system and detox your body. A boot camp trainer will customize your fitness plan in line with your unique fitness goals, health history and current fitness level.

A challenging program like this must be approached with a positive mindset. While there are people in your life who have lost hope on losing weight, they may drag you down by telling you that it is impossible. Weight loss may be tough, but it's done every day. Many things come into play, your past lifestyle, genetics and so on, but all you can ask for is your dedication, commitment, and belief in yourself that you will walk away with results. Feel free to talk to your boot camp trainer about what your objectives are, and also whenever you feel less than enthusiastic about your results. You can and you will beat the lazy bug.

Does your metabolism slow down after pregnancy? Most women know that their body experience hormonal surges that affect the body’s processes, including nutrient delivery, storage of fat, and energy processing. Typically, the metabolism also increases which is why most pregnant women always feel hungry almost all of the time.

After giving birth, these hormones fall drastically and would continue to do so in 4 to 5 months after childbirth. Different women have various reactions to the decline of hormone. Some enter a state of depression or postnatal depression while some adapt to their hormonal changes easily. Mood swings are linked to the decline of thyroid hormones, which also regulate the body’s metabolism.

Reduced thyroid hormones affect how the body regulates energy from food. As it takes several months before the normal production of hormone returns, burning of calories while at rest will most probably slow down during this time. Symptoms of depression, onset by the decreased thyroid hormones, also have a huge effect on weight gain. Your body is also drained of stored nutrients after childbirth, which slows down the metabolism and prevents mothers from losing weight.

Losing weight after pregnancy

With hormonal changes, lost nutrients, and other physical changes that occur after pregnancy, it is not recommended to try to shed pounds immediately after pregnancy. At least not in the way to go on some extreme diet! The most important thing is to get sufficient nutrition and gain more healthy calories needed for breastfeeding. On a lighter note, breastfeeding can help you lose a little weight. You can start with light exercise and increase it as you go further. Take out the junk food out of your snacking and all these little steps will help you lose the weight. However, as mentioned above, women respond to changes differently so be observant of your body’s reaction to such changes.

If you do not want to gain more pounds, it is best to consult a dietician for a weight loss program after childbirth. Reduce intake of empty calories but do not cut off healthy calories as it would only slow down your metabolism more. As much as possible, increase your daily activity. Start by taking your baby for morning walks, dancing him carefully to music, or stroll him or her to the park. You may always be worried and ask does your metabolism slow down after pregnancy. Whether it does or not, the main concern is to keep you and your baby healthy before, during, and after childbirth.

Promoting health and preventing disease have a lot to do with one’s diet. The Food and Nutrition Information Center of the United States Department of Agriculture laid out seven dietary guidelines for people above the age of two years old regarding intelligent food choices that promote health and prevent disease.

These guidelines are:

1. Consume different varieties of food.

Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals can foster disease in your body. It is important that you consume different types of food so that your body can get a good spread of all the necessary vitamins and minerals.

2. Perform physical activity in proportion with the amount of food that you are taking in.

Balancing the food that you consume with corresponding physical activity to burn off the energy is extremely important in maintaining a healthy weight. You will gain weight if you consume more calories than what you burn off through your physical activities.

3. Include a lot of grain products, vegetables, and fruits in your diet.

Fiber, vitamins, and minerals are essential for your health and well-being. By eating a different variety of grain products, vegetables, and fruits you will be feeding your body the essential elements that it needs.

4. Eat foods that are low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol.

Foods high in cholesterol and saturated fat are amongst the biggest killers in our society today. Eating foods that are low in fat content is important if you do not want to have a heart attack in your future. Do not avoid all kinds of fat. Your body does need some fat to function properly. Unsaturated fats are the best type to consume.

5. Only allow a moderate amount of sugars in your diet.

Sugars are high in calories and many of the foods that we eat already contain sugar. These can be sugars that occur naturally in fruits or that are added during the manufacturing process. Watching your sugar intake will help you avoid gaining unnecessary weight.

6. Only include a moderate amount of salt and sodium in your diet.

Scientific studies suggest that a high amount of salt and sodium intake could increase your blood pressure. When this occurs it could lead to serious and sometimes fatal health risks.

7. Consume alcoholic beverages in moderation, if you consume them at all.

There are almost no nutrients in alcoholic beverages and yet these drinks contain a lot of calories. Excess consumption of alcohol could lead to serious health problems in addition to the social and relationship problems that it also causes.

To many people the seven dietary guidelines will sound like common sense. If it were common sense, one wonders why such a large percentage of the population is obese.

Following these seven dietary guidelines will help you lead a more healthy and active life, give you more energy to perform your daily activities, and improve your general health and well-being.