How to Boost Your Metabolism For Fat Loss

Today we're going to talk about strategies you can use to help boost your metabolism. The name of the game is burning calories and thus burning fat. In order to do so in the long-term, you have to have a fat burning metabolism. You need to increase your metabolism so that you are burning calories during the entire day; not just when you exercise.

The first thing you need to do is strength train. The reason we talk about strength training is because we need to build lean mass. We need to build muscle. If you are a woman, don't worry. We're not talking about getting bulky; we're just talking about developing more lean mass. What that does is it raises your basal metabolic rate.

In one of the previous lessons, we looked at equations that allow you to calculate your BMR and how many calories you burn during the day. If you remember the lesson, you will know that your BMR is heavily dependant on lean mass.

The more lean mass you have (muscle), the higher your BMR will be, which is what we want. Strength training is the key. A lot of people go wrong when they want to lose weight by doing more and more cardio.

Cardio is great in the short term. It is going to burn calories during the cardio session, but many people don't think about the benefit down the road. If they did, they would incorporate more strength training. Strength training gives you a long-term investment for caloric burning.

The second thing I would recommend is exercise early in the morning. Whether that is strength training or walking or running, whatever you do, get yourself out of bed and get moving.

The earlier in the day you can get moving the better. Any time you move, you raise your metabolism. Studies have shown that if you move earlier in the day you will have an easier time burning more calories during the day because your body is awakened.

If you sleep in or sit around in an office all day, you are not burning many calories. If you work out later in the day it is beneficial, but if you can get your workout in earlier you are going to get a lot more benefits for your efforts. If you do workout in the evening, at least do what you can to walk or get moving in the mornings.

Take the stairs. Do anything you can do to get your muscles actively engaged.

That takes me to my next point. If you work in an office, you need to find a way to engage your muscles somehow. Walk during your lunch hour if you can or get in a quick workout.

Another thing you can do are static contractions.

Static contractions are powerful. This is something you can try right now. Contract all of the muscles in your body. Do it right now and hold it for 10 seconds. If you did that, you will have noticed a tremendous increase in your body temperature.

This happens because we've initiated contraction in a huge portion of your muscles. Because the muscles are working, that means you are using up calories and you are going to raise your metabolism.

Any time you raise your body's temperature, you raise your body's metabolism. If you are cold all the time, you need to increase your metabolism. When you increase your temperature it is an indicator that you are burning more calories. Static contract whenever you can. Do it in the elevator, on the subway, wherever, and static contract for 10 repetitions if you can.

No let's talk about some nutrition strategies. I am not a huge believer in fat-burner pills like caffeine or ephedra. You want to avoid those. They will kill you in the long run. Nutritionally, what you want to look at are ways to support your thyroid gland. Your thyroid gland is at the front of your throat. It is the master gland of metabolism.

A lot of people, especially women in their younger years as well as their older years have low thyroid function. If your thyroid is not functioning properly, your metabolism will slow down. Let's look at some ways to support your thyroid through nutrition as opposed to medication.

Thyroid hormones are highly dependant on the minerals iodine and selenium. Your best source of iodine is by far sea vegetables. If you can incorporate more sea vegetables into your diet such as dulse, kelp, nori, wakame, and arame, the better off you will be from an overall health perspective. They have more minerals than any other food on the planet. Kelp, for example, is amazing. One serving has 2000% of your RDA for iodine. Iodine is one of the base minerals that are needed for thyroid hormone function. For selenium, try some Brazil nuts. One or two Brazil nuts are all you need to get your selenium requirements in a day.

Other than that you are looking at supporting your liver through a whole foods diet and making sure that your digestive system is working properly. Make sure you are eliminating properly as well.

All of these things make a big difference even though you may not think of them in terms of how they are going to help your metabolism. Everything in the body is interrelated. Another big issue is stress. Reduce the stress in your life. Practice meditation and yoga. Go for a walk in nature.

Do whatever you can do to reduce the stress on your adrenal glands because when the adrenal glands are stressed, they can stress thyroid function.

Lean proteins increase your metabolism because they make your body work a little bit more to digest them, but I definitely do not recommend that you eat a lot of animal protein.

But one more point I will mention is the thermic effect of food. Roughly 10% of the calories you burn come from the thermic effect of food.

When you eat something, your body must expend energy in order to digest the food. So there are negative calorie foods such as fibrous vegetables like celery, asparagus, broccoli, etc. All of those foods are very nutrient dense and low in calories. Because they are high in fiber, the body has to work hard at digesting them which is going to help burn more calories.

You can take advantage of this by eating small meals throughout the day.

Think of your metabolism as a fireplace. You want to consistently feed the fire with pieces of food now and then.

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Swiss Exercise Balls - An Incredibly Useful Addition to Any Workout

One of the newest inventions in exercise equipment today is the Swiss Exercise Ball. The come in a variety of colors to suit everyone's tastes. A group of Swiss therapists to give support during workouts invented these exercise balls.

The Swiss Exercise Ball is very versatile and can be use to tone the major muscle group of the body. The ball can be used to assist in muscle toning with light or heavy weights, and is ideal for use during happinesslifetime.com Yoga training.

The durable Swiss Exercise Ball has been tested under pressure, and will continue to maintain its shape. Its firm yet soft material can support your body with harming it any way.

The diversity of colors and finishes that Swiss Exercise Balls come with make it very attractive and easy to match your décor. They can be tucked underneath your bed or table for easy storage. If you have kids, the ball is a great play toy because of its big soft material. It's hours of fun and exercise.

The original use for these Swiss Ball was in physical therapy. The ball helped to support patience during their therapy sessions. The ball stabilized the body while in certain positions where balance was needed.

The Swiss Exercise Ball has been very useful for people with back pain and spinal injury. The ball helps to strengthen the back muscles and return their range of movement.

In yoga, the exercise balls help to give you a better workout than just doing the poses on the floor. The ball makes your body want to align itself constantly. This also engages the muscles that normally would not be involved in the exercise.

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5 Reasons You Should Do Yoga

You've probably read a lot of information that says doing Yoga is good for your health. Studies have proven that Yoga has a lot of health benefits. Maybe you've thought about starting a Yoga practice in the past but have just not gotten around to it. If you're still not convinced that a regular Yoga practice is right for you here are the top 5 reasons that you should start doing Yoga:

1. Yoga can heal injuries - The increased agility and strength that you get from a regular Yoga practice can help you heal old injuries and can even help you prevent new ones. Many people that suffer from pain caused by old injuries and have a hard time finding exercises that they can comfortably do find that Yoga is something they can do easily and without pain. If you have had past injuries that make exercising difficult or painful try Yoga.

2. Yoga can help you excel at other sports - If you are an active athlete in another sport, or if you want to be, then the stretching and strength training aspects of Yoga can help you become a better overall athlete. Many of the top athletes in the world practice Yoga to help them perform better in their chosen sport.

3. Yoga can re-shape your body - If you've recently had a baby, lost a lot of weight, or have had another event in your life that drastically altered your body starting a regular Yoga practice that focuses on strength and agility can help you re-shape your body and create the type of body that you want.

4. Yoga reduces stress - If you have a high stress job or if you're trying to balance a family and a career and you have a lot of stress in your life you're at risk for developing serious stress-related illnesses. Doing Yoga on a regular basis can help you mange your stress and reduce your risk of illness and feel better.

5. Yoga helps you mind as much as your body - A regular Yoga practice will help balance your emotions and give you mental clarity in addition to helping your body stay fit and strong. In order to be truly healthy you need to have a healthy body and a healthy mind. Doing Yoga regularly can help you achieve true health and inner harmony.

Jay Franco has been a Yoga enthusiast since an early age. He is constantly trying to find practical ways of implementing this ancient knowledge into his Western lifestyle. His website is: [yogascienceofbreath.com]

The Fitness Revolution

Most of the times the gaming industry is labeled as being very unhealthy for kids as it results in hours and hours of sitting in front of a monitor with no exercise. Several companies have tried in the past to shrug that label off and very few have passed muster in the test.

Wii Fit then came along with a balance board and a character called Mii which helps you play and compete and also lets you exercise and be fit. Therein lies the whole story of the gaming industry. Wii Fit has exercises such as yoga, strength training, aerobics and balance exercises.

Almost everyone wants to have a perfect body like the actors of our generation for example Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. To get those kinds of bodies you would have to get up and work hard on you body. You would argue that there is limited time for the exercising in between work and home. The solution has been for all these years have been exercise programs and special videos which will give you an hour of supercharged exercise and will give you some exercise. These videos promise you those sculpted bodies but the fact remains that those bodies come with hard work and hours and hours of strenuous exercising in the gymnasium.

The Wii Fit balance board has an advantage over the yoga videos that the balance board and the Wii Fit are interactive and tell you when you have a bad posture. This is important as you would like to do the exercise correctly and gain from it rather than be hurt by some wrongful movements.

The Wii Fit scores over other forms of exercise like the bike rather the bikes of stationary kinds. You can again bike as well as play games. This lure of playing a game in itself help you get over the initial inhibition of getting up on the bike. Bikes though provide more strength and have definitive advantages over the sit at home and play type of games.Bikes as an exercise is by far the best sinec it involves transportation advantages too, if you want to travel within city distances.

Other exercise forms definitely score over Wii Fit like the exercising at a gym or do jogging because those involve actual movements and will help you more than the Wii exercising once you get over that initial laziness. Wii Fit all said and done is that motivational device for exercising.

The author has written extensively about video games. He has a website that suggests you to buywii-nintendo-online.com/2008/01/wii-fit.html buy wii fit because of its advantages. He has written about buywii-nintendo-online.com buy Wii Fit Canada issues as compared to US.

Yoga Your Way to Weight Loss

Yes, yoga magazines demonstrate poses using skinny, astonishingly limber women. But if you have 40 or 50 or 70 extra pounds on you, don't be scared away from the best thing that could ever happen to your frame and your self-esteem.

Despite the magazines and the teachers who, after years of practice resemble sylphs, yoga doesn't care what you look like or what you weigh. In fact, it changes what you look like, and often what you weigh as well. How? Because it makes you acutely aware of your body in a way that makes you actually want to take care of it, sing to it, bring it presents and treat it right.

So yoga practice is not about being skinny or svelte or reedy. It's about leaving your ego at the door and moving your body in the present moment.

Yoga is about balance. Balance in eating, balance in drinking, balance in exercise, balance in purporting yourself. Yes, too fat is out of balance, as is too thin, but neither is a crime punishable by not being able to stretch.

Buy yoga clothes that fit. Don't be afraid of the clothes' form fitting stretchiness. Just get the right size. With regular practice yoga clothing will permit you to watch your body change in what can only be referred to as astonishing ways.

Another point is that your relative flexibility should not dissuade you, either. No one begins yoga able to handle all the postures. More quickly than you think, you will begin to extend your arms, legs, torso, and neck far beyond your expectations. Every time you perform a pose, you'll be closer to the ideal.

Your balance will improve greatly and the peace and satisfaction you feel at the end of each session puts you precisely in the mood for a deep meditation. In fact, look for classes that end with meditation. You won't ever want to get out and you can take that practice home with you as well.

Yoga is for men, too. Don't be kept away by the women or the way you look in a sweat suit. And do wear a sweat suit to begin, anyway, because leotards on guys only work on Baryshnikov.

There are many many places to take yoga classes, but like other workout sites, it had better be close to home or you might not want to go.

You can watch yoga on television or get a book, but the best way to learn you know that is in person. Signing up for a series of classes is also the best way to keep you on track, since you can pay in advance.

For more information about howtouseyoga.com how to use yoga, try visiting howtouseyoga.com howtouseyoga.com/, a yoga website where you can also find information about the branches of yoga.

Finding the Right Yoga Teacher for You

Yoga has had resurgence in popularity over the last few decades and new classes form everywhere every day. Thousands of new teachers are certified every year, but with such a large percentage of new teachers, how can we be sure we're getting the yoga knowledge and teaching ability we seek?

The different schools of yoga are really all based on the same movements, or yoga asanas, but they do it in different tempos and combinations in order to achieve specific results. The school's stated purpose can be a good place to start. For example, if you're looking to lose weight, you'll want one of the quicker-paced schools. If you're looking for spiritual repose, you may prefer a slower-paced yoga with longer holds. This is largely a matter of personal preference, and several schools may all meet a single type of need, so don't give up if the first one you choose isn't what you hoped for.

Finding the right kind of teacher to whom you'll respond isn't always easy. In the first place, there is no real certification processed or approved training sequence. Without these standards almost anyone can hold themselves out as professional yoga instructors.

Find out what kind of training a proposed teacher has had. What school of yoga did he study? How many hours did he put in before becoming a teacher? A program that includes not only learning, but also practice teaching sessions, and is around 200 hours seems to be standard. You'll find some certification programs that take a year or more to complete, and those that are an intense weekend of correspondence-type study. Expect to pay more to and learn more from the former. Avoid the latter altogether.

Also check his experience. How long has he been teaching? Usually, the longer the experience, the better the teacher, but if he's new, don't rule him out on that alone. Talk to some of his students. What do they like about him and what would they change? How do they feel after a session with him? Compare their answers with your ideal of a yoga instructor.

If you're new to yoga, you may want to have a discussion with a potential instructor. Find out how she got into yoga, and what styles and schools she's tried. Ask what she focuses on the most in her classes - strength? Flexibility? Balance? Meditation? Does she limit the size of her classes? If you're attending for a specific medical reason, such as high blood pressure or back pain, make sure she has experience with those conditions.

Some good clues to look for are 1) is the teacher enthusiastic about yoga and its myriad of benefits for students? 2) Does he seem knowledgeable, using Sanskrit names for the asanas? These things don't guarantee expertise, of course, but they indicate a good amount of time spent in study.

After you've checked her credentials and chosen your yoga instructor, try a few lessons before you commit to any length of study. You'll want to assure yourself that you and she are compatible as student and teacher. Do you like the routines she leads? Do you find her instruction easy to follow? Does she give individual help when you need it? Does she provide demonstrations? Does she care about her students and watch over them carefully to assure they are doing the asanas correctly and in a way they aren't prone to injury? Does she correct not only with words, but also with gentle physical repositioning? Are you overly sore when you finish a session? This may be a sign of an unbalanced routine and another teacher may be in order.

Again, don't be discouraged with a bad teacher. Just try again. There's always another, better, yoga teacher just around the corner.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to yoga.tips-and-gear.com Yoga

Lasting Health & Fitness Requires the Gift of Knowledge

Yesterday was "date day," the day that my daughter and I hang out together, and go out on the town. So every Thursday I am brought face to face with the reality of just how many questions one human being can ask. Sometimes it's enough to make my head spin. And the amazing thing is, she wants an earnest answer for each one of those questions. Where does she put all this information?

There is a saying that I really like. It goes something like: "If you are always using your knowledge, how can you ever learn anything." I wish I could find the reference.

At any rate, it sums up what could possibly be the single biggest barrier you face in achieving your health and fitness goals - or any goal for that matter. If you are only able to fall back on your own knowledge, if you are too entrenched in what you "know to be true" to consider other opinions or seek out knowledge from another source, how can you ever know more and get better? If you do not learn to learn, you will be stuck in the mire of your own certainty. In essence, you will be abusing your knowledge.

If I had not been willing to learn, I would have never embraced the health-first paradigm Scott Sonnon was evangelizing when I ran across the Circular Strength Training® system (CST) for the first time. I had decades of conventional training wisdom under my belt at the time. I could easily have dismissed CST as a crazy fad. I'd still be living a continuous cycle of progress, injury and malaise. Fortunately, I was able to put my own knowledge on hold.

Learning is a skill, and one of the first steps on the path to learning that skill is to let go of certainty and embrace the possibility of a better answer. This does not mean you have to swallow everything whole! The second ingredient in learning to learn is a healthy dose of critical thinking, so that you can sort through the piles of information and absorb what works.

But whatever you do, don't short circuit the process by trying to spew out everything you know (or think you know) before the conversation ever gets started. This is one of my first early warning signs that a potential client may not be someone who I want to work with. When I start discussing some of my training philosophies and approaches, only to have the other person start rhyming off all they know about diet and exercise, I immediately start thinking that this person just wants a sounding board, not a coach. You can't coach someone who is not ready to start listening and learning.

So if you are ready to learn, here are a three common sense steps to making the process efficient and effective.

3 Steps To Hack The Learning Process

Step 1: Open the lid

For a short time, just pretend you don't know anything about whatever subject you're exploring. Absorb as much of the new information as you can without superimposing your pre-conceived notions.

A lot of my clients are interested in losing fat. But when we start discussing fat loss strategies, I immediately run across a very strongly embedded idea about nutrition. If you look at any food pyramid published by a Western government, the base of this "healthy eating" guide is built on grains (bread, pasta, cereal, etc). Someone who has been imbibed with the notion that their morning toast and cereal is a healthy way to start the day inevitably has a hard time getting past that preconception. It's my job to find a way for them to take a new look at "what they know."

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Albert Einstein, progenitor of that quotation, was a pretty smart guy. If you have a fitness goal that is, as yet, unachieved, then perhaps you don't currently own the knowledge you need to get you there. Stop doing the same thing over and over. Start looking for a better way to do more with less. Better is better...

Step 2: Filter & Absorb

Now you get to filter the new information through your current knowledge and understanding. This is an important step for two reasons. First, having a frame of reference is the single best way to absorb and retain new information. We are very associative creatures, and the more we can create inter-connectivity in our brains, the more sticky new knowledge becomes.

I'm working through a book right now called Stretching & Flexibility by Kit Laughlin. There is a ton of brilliant information in this text, enough that I could easily forget most of it by the time I finish the book. But by consistently running the information through my Prasara Yoga filter (a component of CST), I can compare and contrast - making connections - and vastly improve my retention.

But filtering will also gives you a first pass through the huckster meter. You have to suspend your preconceptions to learn effectively, but you also need to be weary. Especially in this day and age, there is a virtual deluge of information and misinformation at the tips of our fingers. Swallowing it all hook line and sinker isn't a particularly efficient learning strategy either.

I'm doing some research right now on the Omega-3 fatty acid ETA (you've probably only heard of EPA and DHA right...?). Information is not readily available, and some of the sites you find on the subject are clearly peddling a product. But more digging leads to credible sites where no-nonsense information can be found. The promise of ETA for autoimmune conditions (like rheumatoid arthritis) seems very real. But people with these diseases are in a lot of pain and looking for hope around every corner, so you have to be careful about the source of any new information. When you are looking for something new, when you want to find a better way, be open minded, but keep your eyes wide open too.

Step 3: Test & Verify

At this stage, if the new information makes it past your BS filter, it's time to test and verify. You can start by finding corroboration from trusted sources. Call or post around to professionals that you trust. Talk to friends and family about what you have found. You may be surprised just how much extra insight you can dig up by finding out what other people in your circle know about this subject. Sometimes you'll come up empty, but you never know. The most important thing you can do is to put this new knowledge through the gauntlet by testing it in the real world. Take your new information, if it seems credible, and try it on for size.

As garyvaynerchuk.com Gary Vaynerchuk, one of the smartest guys on the internet, would say, you have to figure out if the shoe fits. In other words, does this new information work for you? Is the empirical evidence positive, is it working? Do you like it? Is it something you can use, put into practice, sustain? If so, you've found a keeper. You've shifted your paradigms to accept new information or new methods. You have suspended your own knowledge long enough to absorb someone else's for your own benefit. And you are one step closer to your fitness goals because you are a little bit less insane than you were. You've stopped, at least a little bit, doing the same thing and expecting different results.

Now you can use it, gain from it, and pass it on to someone else down the learning line. And with each passing on, we exert Isaac Newton's affirmation that, "If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants." Learning to learn allows you to stand on the shoulders of giants. What little gems have allowed you to become a little less insane? What nuggets have allowed you to climb a little higher onto those shoulders and see a little further? Or, more importantly, when you think about it, what do you think you "know" that may be holding you back? G.I. Joe used to say, "knowing is half the battle." But maybe knowing what you don't know is even more important.

Visit Adam's blog to download the Kick-Start Package for more valuable information on both the mindset and the practices required for bettersbetter.com optimal wellness. Adam Steer is a squidoo.com/cst Circular Strength Training? Head Coach and a fitness trainer and coach in Quebec City. He has given workshops to fitness professionals in Singapore, Australia, Washington State, Philadelphia and New York City.