OK so it’s pretty much a well-known fact that obesity is now a widespread disease: The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention report that nearly three out of every four men are either overweight or obese, and 50% of men don’t engage in vigorous physical activity.

Unfortunately, as if the consequences of these statistics weren’t bad enough, what’s worse is that children can be affected by them. A recent study published by the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour reports that children are easily influenced by their fathers food choices; mainly referring to how often they eat fast and processed foods, which can then in turn cause potential weight problems in the children.

The following fitness and diet tips can help motivate you to stay active and to fuel your body with the right diet plan.

Fitness routines – Keep them Varied for Motivation

Many fitness experts and medical professionals, such as Arnold Lee MD, physician at One Medical Group in San Francisco believe that varying exercise activities helps motivation stay strong. “There are numerous benefits to mixing up your workout routine”. He states. “It’s the key to stimulating different muscle groups and preventing boredom.”

Your body can easily get used to same physical activities if done repetitively enough. Alternating activities and exercise routines keeps the body guessing with the result being that more calories have to be burned as it has to adapt.

Don’t go it Alone

Getting a fitness partner is a great way of keeping you motivated to stick with your diet plan and exercise routine. Your exercise buddy can help you stay focused as well as supporting and motivating you while exercising, as well as providing an element of competition – especially if you are of similar abilities…

Always Read Nutrition Labels

Whole, natural and where appropriate, raw foods should always be chosen over processed or pre-packaged ones, but if you are going to have a commercially pre-made or processed meal or food product, always read the label.

It’s important to do so to avoid sabotaging your healthy eating plan -as not only do processed foods contain unhealthy ingredients much of the time, (trans fats, preservatives) but they also contain numerous servings in one package – sometimes three to four – so it’s very easy to overeat.

Cooking – Keep it Clean and Lean

When preparing meals at home, bake, grill, steam or lightly sauté. These cleaner (using less trans fats) cooking methods are healthier than breading and deep-frying. The use of healthy fats such as olive or coconut oil rather than butter will help keep the cholesterol levels down. Another great tip is to be creative with spices and herbs – they will help to keep meals more interesting and appetizing.

Eating – Keep It Vibrant and Exciting

The last thing you want is for your healthy eating plan to go astray because of diet boredom. Just like you’d try different ways to cook and prepare meals, try eating different foods and using unusual ingredients.

To add to your lean protein and low-fat dairy options, there are loads of different exotic fruits, vegetables and other products available in supermarkets and food stores these days, and more than enough cookbooks and recipes online to give you new ideas to try.

Limiting yourself to a similar range of foods, even if they are healthy, is not only a risk for diet dullness, but may also restrict your body from getting certain essential vitamins and minerals.

Size Matters

While on the subject of food, eat healthy and eat well, but watch the portion sizes. It’s very easy to dish up large portion sizes – especially if that’s what you were used to. Some good tips are to get smaller plates and to eat more slowly, chewing your food a lot more than usual – up to 12 times – so you get to feel full without eating as much food.

You can weigh the portions out and count calories according to the diet you are following, but a good rule of thumb is to eat a portion of protein no larger than the palm of your hand – and some simple carbs (veg and salad) of the same amount.

Strength Training is A Must

Including strength (resistance) training into your fitness programme is a great way to add variety to exercising as well as building calorie-burning muscle. There are many other benefits too:

Increased body metabolism

Improved bone strength and density

Body toning

Increased lean body mass

Better balance and co-ordination

Strength training core muscles improves your balance for better overall athletic performance, and reduces the risk of injuries and common aches like backache. You don’t need to use weights to do strength training – you can use bodyweight exercises, exercise bands – or even exercise in water.

Get HIIT to Work for You

Add some regular High Intensity Interval Training to your fitness programme. HIIT has many benefits to offer for fat loss. Compared to steady state cardio exercises (like jogging) it saves time and can be more fun and interesting because of the variations in intensity. It will definitely help you lose fat quicker than steady state cardio, but you really have to push yourself.

Together with strength training, using HIIT exercises ensures your body gets optimum fat burning capabilities by increasing its metabolism both during, and after workouts.

Stick With It

Even with the best intentions and willpower, most of us will fall off the rails of our weight loss programme at some point – sometimes more than once. This doesn’t mean we should quit – we will come across hiccups, we just need to get back on the programme and carry on. Jumping back on as soon as possible is important however, as the longer we let it slide the more momentum we lose and we have to start again.

Even if we do stick with it come what may and the results are not coming as quickly as we’d like, always remember that you didn’t put on the weight in a month – so you’re not going to reach your ideal weight in a month either…

The Sonoma Diet was a book written by Connie Gutterson. It is one of the most balanced and moderate diets to appear in a long time. There are no dramatic restrictions on food groups, no calorie counting, and has all of the flair of a gourmet Mediterranean diet.

What is the Sonoma?

The Sonoma diet is a uniquely flavorful weight loss plan that brings together the art and science of food. Sonoma is a region in California, USA that is well regarded for its quality vineyards. The author and registered dietitian Connie Gutterson has been consulting with the Olive industry for a number of years. The nutritional credentials she has have enabled her to write a book that provides some of the most balanced and sensible weight loss advice. The Sonoma diet was not born in a lab much like other weight loss programs; in fact, it was born from two of the most agriculturally abundant and vital regions of the world: The coast of the Mediterranean Sea and of course Sonoma Valley California. These two regions share a festive approach to eating – a heart felt love of great food that turns every meal into a celebration of life. These wonderful foods make these areas into a paradise of healthy living and are the heart and soul of the Sonoma Diet. Members of the Sonoma diet experience this joy of eating. There are wide selections of recipes that are essential to Sonoma Diet member’s success.

The 3 Waves

Wave 1: lasts for approximately 10 days, and you’ll immediately begin eating delicious breakfasts, lunches, and dinners prepared with healthful foods. A benefit of this wave is that you will be able to eat all of your favorite foods and your online meal planner and recipe database will provide all the options you will need to be satisfied. One of the positive notes is that unlike other diets, this phase does not restrict carbohydrates but does include whole grain cereals and breads.

Wave 2: This wave is the major part of your diet. This here will be the eating plan that you stick with until you reach your target weight. Wave 2 is about variety with a broad range of foods including wine and fruits.

Wave 3: The third wave of the Sonoma Diet begins the day you finally reach your target weight. Once your ideal weight has been reached, this is the life – long maintenance phase where they teach you how to keep the weight off that you lost as well as teach you how to stick with the healthy eating lifestyle.

Portion Control

The secret is enjoying the right foods in the right amounts. If you think about it, that is really the only healthy way to lose weight. Aren’t you tired of counting calories, and dealing with severe food restrictions? The main premise of the Sonoma diet is that food should be enjoyed even when dieting. The problem with most weight loss programs out there is that so many teach and cause the dieter to hate and fear food. Sonoma introduced a concept called ‘plate and bowl’. All of the meals are assigned a specific plate size, with detailed instructions on how the plate should be filled. I was amazed while reading the book that it provided a wine guide to help select the best matching wine to accompany the meal.

Top 10 Power Foods

It’s important to know what the top 10 power foods are. When you start to eat the Sonoma way, you’ll be eating this way for the rest of your life. The Sonoma Diet book contains 300 recipes. The on-line program contains an additional 500 recipes. The top 10 power foods are.

o Almonds

o Bell Peppers

o Blueberries

o Broccoli

o Grapes

o Olive oil

o Spinach

o Strawberries

o Tomatoes

o Whole grains

One of the best features of the Sonoma diet is how interactive it truly is. The online program features on-line dietitians, live support, shopping lists, customized meal plans, and message boards. All subscriptions do come with a required fee, and subscribers must pay for a minimum of 5 weeks; however, if at any time you want to cancel your program there is not a cancellation fee. The Sonoma Diet is very popular and comes highly recommended by us and its users. This diet is now in 2007 considered to be in the top 5 diet programs. We at Flex Your Health consider this diet to be in the top 2 of all weight loss programs offered. If you try this program I am sure you will find a new healthier lifestyle with fantastic gourmet meals that will impress even the most sophisticated pallet.

Bodybuilding is one of the toughest sports and a muscle building diet is one of the main things that body builders follow before they go on a competition. In that time you need to follow some main things if you want to see results which are losing fat and gain muscles as much as you can.

This step is one of the hardest in bodybuilding because you need to work a lot, trust me a lot, if you want to see results and following a guide like this is the best thing to do, to success in the quickest time as possible. here you will learn some basic tips and a diet plan that will work for you if you want to grow your muscles and lose fat.

This type of diet is not as many diets as you can see all over the net. Like, eating less and running a lot, or not eating nothing and drink only water. If you do this things you will lose your muscles, trust me. What you need to do is follow an nutrition program that is made just for this and a workout weekly, to see results in months time!

Nutrition is a very basic step to follow. You need to eat a lot, but not eat all food, you need to eat only proteins type of food.Carbohydrates are the ones that will give you fat, that is why you need to eat as less as possible food that contains carbohydrates and fat. Try to eat a lot of meat, drink milk, eat vegetables, and have around 5 meals per day. What you are trying to do, is to feed your muscles with proteins and lose weight at the same time not eating carbohydrates or fat. Follow that and you will see how your muscles will grow faster!

Workout is the second main step to follow. You need to work in GYM and also go run after each daily workout, it works the best. Try to go around 4-5 times per week in GYM and after each 1.5 hour long workout go 20 minutes running out, this is the best thing to do! Daily you need to work on two muscle categories like chest and legs with 4 different exercises and 4 routines with 14-10 reps. You need to sweat as much as you can and keep pumping your muscles to grow them fast. Running is the best to shape up your muscles and lose fat.

Everyone lifting weights in the gym has a different idea of what they want to achieve so what is the optimum nutrition required for each and every method of training people carry out?

This is a question that plagues every gym going individual, just how many calories do they need and how much protein is required? Well today you will get the answers as we tell you just what the optimum nutrition is for everyone no matter what they want to achieve.

Calorie Intake

So the first part of talking about the optimum nutrition requirements is daily calorie intake. Interestingly there is a simple yet effective formula for this, which is surprising given many people do not know how many calories their body requires.

The daily calorie intake for those visiting the gym differs for three reasons. One of these reasons is that the individual wishes to bulk up with muscle, one is that the individual wishes to stay the same weight as they are. The final reason is that the individual wishes to lose weight and cut up for definition.

Bulking up

For bulking up with muscle the formula is to take an individuals weight in pounds and times this by eighteen to get the required daily calorie intake.

Maintaining weight

For maintaining weight the formula is to take the individuals weight in pounds and times this by fourteen for the required calories.

Lose weight and cut up

For losing weight and cutting up for definition the formula is to take the individuals weight in pounds and times this by twelve and you get the daily required calories for this.

Example

Bulking up – 210lbs x 18 = 3780 calories per day

Maintaining weight – 210lbs x 14 = 2940 calories per day

Losing weight/cut up – 210lbs x 12 = 2520 calories per day

The second function for understanding the optimum nutrition requirements is the required protein intake.

Protein Intake

Without a good level of protein intake your body will not be able to give you the strength required to endure heavy weight training sessions and will not be able to promote muscle growth and recovery.

Protein intake requirements run off another simple formula, this is to take in 0.75 grams to 1 gram of protein for every pound a person weighs. This formula doesn’t change no matter what your goals are. This means that a man of 210 pounds in weight requires 157.5 to 210 grams of protein per day for optimal muscle building.

Fats

Good fats, that’s Monounsaturated fat and Polyunsaturated fat (collectively called Trans fats), are very important to anyone wishing to lift weights in the gym. Many people neglect fats in their diet as they think they are not good for them but this could not be further from the truth.

Good fats carry out many important functions in the body yet the body cannot create this itself so they all have to be derived from our diet.

Summary

As you can see its actually very easy to understand your bodies requirements to get the most out of your weightlifting no matter what you wish to achieve. If you use the above as a guideline to your optimum nutrition then you are sure to achieve your goals.

Health, safety and nutrition are three of the most important factors to consider when raising a child. In other words, every child should be raised with proper nutrition, good health and safety as possible, allowing him or her to grow with a great well-being.

Now, if you are one of the adults who have been wondering where on earth to get good advices for child health, safety and nutrition, I bet you would be happy to know that you’ve found the right place. Yes, this page will help you find the right places to go for child health, safety and nutrition advices. It is important to note, however, that these portals are just a few of the many online. But they are worth considering to get started.

So to find the best advices for child health, safety and nutrition, read on.

Health and Safety

Several researches have noted that in today’s fast-paced world where the child’s safety and health issues are rapidly growing, more than fifty sites online present health and safety guidelines for the public to consider. These guidelines are disseminated throughout the net, allowing the people to access this wealth of information as easy as possible.

A few of the worth visiting portals online that talk about child health and safety issues and advices are the following:

BrightFutures.org

Bright Futures is sponsored by a well-known health care organization, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration. This is also supported in part by the Pfizer Pediatric Health, and has been operating to provide the public the necessary information about the current and emerging preventive and health promotion needs of infants, children, adolescent, families and communities.

NCCIC.org

NCCIC.org is actually the official website of Health Child Care America, which is but a federal government initiative that works to increase collaboration between the early childhood community as well as the public health community. This collaboration is considered to allow these communities to create the best care for children in the childcare. Today, this federal government initiative is introducing its newsletter which is made available in full text online.

Nutrition

NAL.USDA.gov

This portal is owned by the Child Care Nutrition Resource System, which has long been providing the public with the wide selection of recipes, resources and information on how to prepare meals that are highly nutritious and safe.

BCM.TMC.edu

At this site, you can access the Children’s Nutrition Research Center, which is but the first federally funded nutrition research center in the United States. This center is dedicated to investigating the nutritional needs of those women who are expecting and are nursing their children. This is great for child nutrition as it covers information about children from conception through adolescence.

So those are just a few of the many sites online that tackle issues on child health, safety and nutrition. Visit other online sites for more information about child health, safety and nutrition.

When it comes to fat burning, the first thing that we think of is which route to take, do we exercise, or do we go on a diet, or do we do a combination of them both. The traditional advice to burning fat is to eat less and to move more.

There is a ton of things to do to burn fat however we are constrained by our finite resources such as time and money. Weight gain and loss revolve around caloric expenditure and consumption.

Diet Only Route

This is the easiest route because we are going to be eating anyway so we might as well cut out the calories in our meal. For most people cutting out calories is easier than burning them off but what we really want is burn fat and not to lose muscle. When we take the diet only route that is exactly what happens, not only do we burn fat but we also lose muscle as well.

When most people hear the word “diet” they think of grilled chicken and salad only, however this is an extreme diet that you probably won’t have to commit yourself to. You might want to try a more balanced diet that includes high fibre and a variety of colours.

The diets with the fastest results are the low carb diets which make them the most popular, but they are difficult to sustain. Unfortunately though, most people on a diet only program tend to gain the lost weight back within two years.

Exercise Only Route

Exercise is an important part of weight loss, without it, part of the weight loss would involve muscle loss and not just fat loss. The problem with an exercise only plan is that you could possibly end up eating more and thus gaining extra unwanted weight. However those who do exercise regularly tend to keep the weight off for longer than those who don’t exercise.

Exercising for just twenty minutes can boost your mood for up to 12 hours and can even help treating people with depression. Exercise has many benefits like reduced stress and better sleep at night. The most important benefit of exercise is that it increases the rate at which your body burns fat.

Muscle tends to take up less space than fat so even though you’ll gain muscle weight you will defiantly look and feel better.

A Combination of both Exercising and Dieting

This is probably the best route to take.

The great thing about this approach is that dieting and exercising help to complement each other. The general rule is that weight loss should be 75% diet and 25% exercise. The important thing to remember is that dieting initially helps the process of weight loss but exercising helps keep the weight off.

Remember that you can’t out exercise a bad diet!

When you think of losing weight, does the image of choking down raw carrots and celery followed by a tall glass of water come to mind?

Dieting does not have to be this way. You can create and follow an easy diet plan that is suited to your needs. You do not want to starve yourself, and risk losing your focus in everyday life. In fact, you will find that these types of diets only result in loss of muscle mass, not the fat loss you want.

An easy weight loss plan can consist of many different types of food. The trick is to eat them in moderation. Obviously, you cannot gorge yourself on fried food and still achieve the weight loss goals you have set for yourself.

The success of any plan for losing weight relies on your determination. Setting weight loss goals is good, but if you set your goals too high, and cannot attain them, you will ultimately fail. It is better to set smaller goals, then once you achieve them set new goals for yourself. As you see yourself achieving these goals, you will be much more determined to continue with your plan because you have tasted success.

Medical experts believe that no matter the type of food that you eat, you need to take your time in eating it. This gives your body the time it needs to recognize when your stomach is full. Often, when you are using this easy weight loss method you will find yourself leaving the table with food still on your plate.

A lot of people who are overweight do not plan their meals. They pick up dinner on their way home either at a fast food place or a convenience store. This leads to poor dietary habits and ultimately weight gain.

Planning your menu for the week and then shopping for it is the optimum healthy diet method that will not only help you lose weight, you will also feel and look better.

You have heard all of your life, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” it really is. When you eat breakfast, your metabolic rate is kicked into high gear for the rest of the day. Studies have shown that people who eat breakfast every day achieve and sustain their weight loss goals more often than those who do not eat breakfast.

Consulting your physician with your weight loss concerns will alleviate any stress you may feel about starting a new routine to lose weight.

Discovering the Benefits of a Muscle Building Diet

Many have discovered the benefits from a muscle building diet and how effective it is for getting into great physical shape. This kind of a diet is not so much about losing weight but losing fat. It is a re-proportioning of the body’s weight so to speak. Lose the fat and increase your strength is the main focus for this kind of regimen.

Effective for Young or Older

It does not matter if you are 16 or 60 a muscle building diet can be effective getting into shape. This is accomplished through a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise. This of course is strengthened by a sensible diet. The aerobic aspect will burn fat and the anaerobic aspect will build muscle. Paired with a sensible diet plan the body can be supplied with healthy nutrition. It only takes moderate amount of commitment and determination to consistently complete the program. About 3 days per week and an hour and half is all that is needed to produce outstanding results in about 90 days.

Long Term Benefits

Beginning a muscle building diet will produce a host of long term health and performance benefits. Consistent anaerobic training will increase muscle mass as well as strengthen individual muscles. No form of exercise burns more calories then anaerobic strength training. Without strength training the muscles only begin to atrophy and lose strength over time. This trend is almost immediately reversed when a strength training routine begins. Strength training is progressive resistance training which strengthens the muscles, tendons and bones. Improved bone density results from the progressive resistance placed on muscles and tendons.

Progressive Results

When beginning a muscle building diet always start off on the low end of the weight scale. You can always increase more weight as you become comfortable handling it. By beginning on the low end you will also prevent and reduce the chance of straining or injuring muscles. The term progressive resistance means making improvements by increment, not in leaps. If you are beginning a strength training program for the first time in a long time proceed with caution on weight selection. Those with an above average strength level going in will use starting weights that are higher then those with below average strength. Ask the professional trainer at the club or studio to assist you in weight selection when in doubt.

Summary

A muscle building diet has a lot of benefits to offer those with the discipline and motivation to engage in it. Age is not a barrier for anyone with the desire to improve their strength, endurance and physical condition. Consuming about 30% of your calories in good lean protein will also give your muscles the protein they need to become toned. Eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables while cutting back on the sweets will help to burn more fat. By using the combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise, while eating healthy, will not only burn fat but get you into the best shape of your life.

Building muscle with nutrition is not complicated, all you need is some basic knowledge, discipline and consistency. You need to eat a healthy diet every day to get the results you want. Nutrition is sometimes disregarded by weight trainers, but the truth is, if you don’t have a proper muscle building diet you are really limiting the results you are going to get from your training. So I have made a list of some of the rules of building muscle with nutrition. These are some of the most important rules you should follow when you are aiming to gain weight by building muscle.

Now, lets get to it!

1. Try to eat 6 good small meals a day. Eating more meals per day increases the body’s metabolism, gives you a constant flow of energy and reduces the chance of your body storing your food as fat. You need to shy away from the ‘3 meals a day’ mentality, those days have come and gone.

2. Eat protein and complex carbohydrates in every meal. Aim to get about 30 grams of protein and some carbs in each meal. For good quality carbs, stick to whole grains, oats, brown rice and wholemeal bread. Good sources of protein are chicken, egg whites, tuna, red meat and fish.

3. Use some bodybuilding supplements but not to excess. They are a great way to get the nutrients you need to your body fast. I would suggest to start off with whey protein supplements and then I would gradually move onto creatine and glutamine. The best times to take supplements is in the morning, before/after training and before bed.

4. Stay away from fats and excessive salts. However, you do need some fat for a healthy diet. Some things that have good fat are olive oil, peanut butter and fish. Also, drink lots of water, fuel up before you workout and after you workout have a meal/shake, which is an important nutrition boost.

5. If you want to gain weight and put on muscle you need to eat more calories than you burn throughout the day. If you don’t eat enough calories you will not put on any muscle. Its as simple as that, never stay hungry. As soon as you begin to feel hungry eat a meal of carbs and protein. Also before you go to bed get a quality meal of protein and carbs for muscle repairing while you sleep.

Nutrition and physical fitness go hand in hand as part of a complete fitness program. Paying attention to your nutrition can help you get more out of being active. Even if you make a conscious effort to eat properly, in this day and age, it is difficult get all the nutrition your body needs from the foods you eat.

Everyone has a good idea of how to eat for proper nutrition. However, because of the many fast food restaurants and the convenience foods sold in grocery stores, it is hard for even the most disciplined person to get everything from their diet that they need.

Vitamins and minerals are important because they help to insure a vibrant immune system. Therefore your body has more of an ability to fight off disease. Also most vitamins cant’ be manufactured in the body and must be gotten from food you eat and from supplements.

You don’t have to become a fanatic in your use of supplements. If you take a basic vitamin and mineral supplement you should be fine. If you have other medical concerns, your doctor may recommend extra supplements such calcium for osteoporosis. Or, you may need to take extra vitamin C for your immune system for example.

A minor problem that could occur is side effects from taking too much of any one vitamin. Taking a good multi-vitamin/mineral supplement, plus maybe extra vitamins for certain conditions or benefits should be enough for most people. If you are concerned about optimum health to help in feeling great and fighting disease, consider supplementing your diet with supplements for good nutrition and physical fitness.