Saturday, November 8, 2008

Yoga Diet System For Losing Weight


Are you frustrated with searching for diet answers? Are there really any Yoga secrets for losing weight? How could low impact Hatha Yoga and a Sattvic diet really make a difference? Why has Yoga been successful in weight loss studies?

It should be understood that Yoga was never designed to be a weight loss system. When Yoga was first developed, approximately five thousand years ago, obesity was not the problem it is today.

On average, people did not live as long as we do. At the same time, people were much more physically active. We rely on machines, use computers, and sit much more than our ancestors did five thousand years ago.

So, where do we get this idea about Yoga and weight loss? The most common form of Yoga, outside of India, is Hatha and its many sub-styles. Hatha Yoga’s approach to physical exercise is usually low impact movement, holding postures, or Yogic breathing techniques (pranayama).

From the outside looking in, Hatha Yoga doesn’t seem to place much demand on the body - in comparison to running, cycling, or jumping rope. However, Yoga is not an exercise system. Yoga is a complete health maintenance system, which improves your mind, body, and emotional state.

Practitioners of Yoga tend to practice for decades without injuries. Much like anything else, it is possible to hurt yourself if you push too hard or force a pre-existing injury. Finding competent Yoga instruction is also important.

Yet, in comparison to any other physical activity, students of Yoga will practice for longevity. The reason is - Yoga becomes a lifestyle and it is fun to practice. It is not a dreaded chore to practice Yoga. In comparison, if you ask most people about standard forms of exercise, they will tell you they see exercise as torture.

This is the main reason why most people are physically inactive; they do not enjoy exercise or they find it boring. This is where Hatha Yoga has a big advantage over exercise systems. On top of that, there is a Yogic diet, which is also known as the Sattvic diet.

In a nutshell, the Sattvic diet is vegetarian and consists of natural or whole foods. Sometimes, people will find this eating boring, but let’s try a different strategy. The next time you go shopping - do not try to make a big change all at once.

Introduce a few natural or whole foods for weekly meals. Reduce take-out meals and lower the consumption of meat - especially processed meat. By making a few small changes at a time, you will improve your life and the lives of your family members.

Giving family members the choice of processed food, beside natural or whole foods, will open their minds to new tastes. Gradual change is a natural part of life, while drastic change is something we sometimes accept.

There is no need to make your dinner table a source of conflict. Natural food is just another choice. This is one reason why researchers, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle, saw positive dieting results from Yoga. A lifestyle you are comfortable with has less stress, anxiety, and frustration.

Copyright 2008 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center in, Attleboro, MA. To receive Free Yoga videos, Podcasts, e-Books, reports, and articles about Yoga, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/member-offer.html

Friday, November 7, 2008

Increase the Number of Pull-ups You Can Do By 50% in One Day

Pull ups are hard, but they are one of the few true tests of strength. I say this because some powerlifters can bench 600 or squat 800, but they also weigh 300+ and can barely manage 5 pull ups. This is one of the few exercises where you can measure relative fitness by comparing the ratio of the number of pull ups completed to bodyweight.

Some of you might get mad at me, talking about powerlifters training for strength rather than endurance, but the fact of the matter is that when I was powerlifting I could still do 15 pull ups at 195 lbs.

Now, let me take you back to high school gym class; the year was 1993, I was 15 years old. Mr. Buatti the gym teacher, who happens to bare a striking resemblance to Coach Buzzcut, called my name to stand up in front of the class and do an many pull ups as I can. The football jocks each knocked out from 10 to 20 and the wiry tough kid with only 3 fingers on one hand completed 14 of them. I got 3. It was humiliating.

Now we come back to the present. Recently I started doing pull ups again after a year layoff. On my first set, I got 5 reps. A week later I was up to 8 reps. Just yesterday I did a set of 11 reps. But I want more. I have done 18 pull ups before; I have also done 5 pull ups with a 45 lb plate hanging off a belt. So, how can I get back to that place? How can YOU get to that place?

The Pyramid Pull Up Strategy

This is the description of a little program that I have used to increase my pull ups quickly in the past.

Here are the instructions:

  1. Start by doing one pull up.
  2. Rest for 10 seconds, but don’t hang there. Stand on something and take all the tension off your arms and back.
  3. Do one pull up more than you did in the previous step.
  4. Go back to step 2 and repeat until you can’t complete the required reps.
  5. Take a break for 2 minutes and do it again. Complete 2-3 sets.

You might feel weak because normally you can do 10 or 12 pull ups in a set, and you finish this exercise with a set of 6. We need to look at an example to see why this is so effective.

Normally I could do 3 sets of 11, 9, and 7 reps for a total of 27 reps at bodyweight. Using the pyramid I ended up doing sets of 1,2,3,4,5,6 then 1,2,3,4,3 and 1,2,3,1 for a total of 41 reps at bodyweight in nearly the same amount of time. That’s nearly a 50% increase in the number of reps in just one day!

Which protocol do you think will force your body to adapt and grow stronger?

Try completing a pull up pyramid twice a week for 1 month then see what your new 1 set max is. Over the course of 4 weeks I have gone from 5 reps to 11 reps by doing the pyramid once a week and 1 regular set of pull ups every other morning.

Steve Hanson has 10 years experience in the fields of exercise science and sports nutrition. He writes articles on all forms of athletic training and nutritional theories. View the blog to learn more about your favorite exercise and nutrition topics.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Can Diet Pills Help You Lose Weight?

In the last several years, obesity has become a serious matter in the US and much of western society. The fact the millions are seriously overweight effects millions of people directly, and the rest of the country indirectly as we all have to pay for the rising health care costs of treating this population.

That makes it everyone’s best interest to find an effective weight loss method to deal with this country’s overweight and obese populations. Can diet pills help?

Before we can figure out the best manner in which to treat the obesity epidemic, we must first try to determine why this condition - now classified as a disease - is at an all time high?

One important reason for the now epidemic rate of obesity and the millions of overweight people in America is our increasingly inactive lifestyles. As people become more wealthy they spend more time chilling out and enjoying themselves, and less time doing physical labor.

People with lots of money are able to hire others to clean and landscape their homes, mow their lawns, and even play with their kids.

Also, North American society has been inundated with sedentary entertainment alternatives. Instead of riding bikes, playing tag and swimming, the new generation of kids is sitting in front of televisions, computers and playing video games. While doing so, they are eating high calorie, high fat, pre-packaged snacks with little or no nutritional value.

Because the obesity epidemic is affecting children as well as adults - and is in fact beginning in childhood - the use of diet pills as a easy solution to obesity is a non starter.

What overweight people - both children and adults - need is a change in lifestyle that reintroduces them to physical exercise and encourages them to change their eating habits.

Weight loss supplements and diet pills should not be seen as a magic solution to the problem of obesity. But they can play an important role in this process.

Shedding weight is not easy. It requires discipline, a change in diet and a major adjustment in lifestyle towards more physical exercise. Diet pills and weight loss supplements should never be looked at as a sort of quick solution.

Remember that a pound of fat has about 3,500 calories in it. No diet pill on earth (ephedrine, prescription, or otherwise) can increase your metabolic rate enough to cause you to lose even a pound of fat per week. It just isn’t possible to do.

But when combined with more disciplined eating habits and pumped up physical activity, some weight loss products can have a positive impact.

For example, certain products contain ingredients that will make you more energetic. That makes it easier to continue with an exercise regime and causes more calories to be burned during exercise.

Trustworthy weight loss authorities estimate the results when using the correct weight loss supplements will be about double the results achieved with diet and/or exercise alone.

Simply put, weight loss supplements can be effective when a person has already embraced the decision to lose weight and has made the necessary diet and lifestyle changes to make it happen.

To see how you can make the best use of diet pills and weight loss supplements visit FemNutirion.com - your best source for ephedra diet pills. Article source: Link Builder Network.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Dieting Myths That You Should Know

Do you feel that you are a bit of overweight? Are you trying to lose some weight? You may also have been trying different dieting plans but they do not really work. You will tend to have foods which are of low fat content in order to have a healthier lifestyle. Yet you should try to understand some of the dieting myths otherwise you will not be able to have a healthy lifestyle.

First of all, let us talk about the notion of food with low fat content. A lot of people think that they will be able to lose weight if they can eat foods which are of low fat content. Yes it is totally true that it can be healthier if you take less fat. However, this does not mean that you can lose weight by eating foods with low fat content.

You have to in fact consider the calorie intake as well. There are ice cream and desserts which are of very low fat content. However, you have also to understand that these foods are loaded with sugar and this means that your calorie intake will increase if you eat more such foods. A worse situation is that you will eat double the amount you usually eat when you know they are low in fat content. This will only lead to weight gain instead of weight loss. As a result, you should also consider the calorie intake besides the fat intake.

Some other people will try to eat more foods which are protein rich in order to promote muscle growth. Yes it is very true that it is very important for you to take protein in order to build your muscles. However, one thing you may not really know is that taking too much protein will not be good for you. Your weight may gain if you take too much protein. This is because the excess protein you take will be stored as fat in your body. As a result, you may gain weight if you have too much protein. As a result, you have to know the most suitable amount of protein you should take.

In order to lose weight and keep yourself healthy, you should also do exercises. Jogging can be a very good exercise for you. Even if you do not really have the time for exercising, you may still take a thirty minutes walk from your home to your office in the morning. This will certainly help you to lose weight.

The author has a website on Health, Fitness and Exercises. Be sure to check Weight Loss Pill Reviews and the article Lose Weight With a Gluten Free Diet.