Walk Off Weight Fast – Part 1

You don’t have to walk fast to walk off weight fast – truly. Walking consistently at a moderate to moderately strong pace will help you get down to your “fighting” weight and keep you there – fast. But you say that you can’t do any more than you already do.

Well, guess what, to change your body something major has got to change, and the one thing that you can take total control over is putting one foot in front of the other – more.

For just a few weeks, do this: walk more, and more often – just in the beginning, it’s not forever. To get a dramatic response from your body – trust me, this will do the trick! Your body needs to experience some true endurance training. That is – you need to endure, go the distance, and stay out on the road longer than usual to effect a powerful and deep physical change.

Here are a few easy ways to get it going:

1. Walk when you could drive. Take your sneakers out instead of your car keys, leave an extra 30 – 60 minutes for travel time and walk to your destinations whenever possible.

2. Walk to and from your workout. If you can, walk to Yoga or Spinning or weight training or any class. Add on an extra 15, 30, 40, 60 or more minutes of cardio.

3. Take the dog out for a good long walk. He needs it as much as you do, so give him or her 30 or 40 minutes of one-on-one time with you – 2 times a day – and watch what happens to you both.

4. Make Saturday or Sunday your long day. Take water, tunes, friends, and whatever pleases you, and go out for 90 minutes or more. Keep an even pace, moderate to moderately strong and steady. Make this weekend walking day a real journey.

Vary terrain, experience new places, explore surrounding areas or distant ones but keep it interesting with variation. Keep increasing time and distance for four weeks. You will see that the added mileage will trim your weight and shape your body.

Then we get into even more effective and efficient ways to train. Soon you’ll be doing just the opposite – walking less and getting more from your training. But for now – put your time on the road in and get great results in return. If you must cut something else out for these few weeks – do it! Make this initial investment and the payoff will be well worth it. This is just the beginning of a truly transforming weight loss program.

Peace and Happy Trails,

Debbie Rocker

I got this article from: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/rockertraining/1338/walk-off-weight-fastpart-1/

Tips to Take Off Pounds

By Melissa Gotthardt, Prevention

For more than 50 years, Prevention’s been creating, collecting, and perfecting advice to help you slim down. That’s because we want you to look and feel good about yourself.

By achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, you can significantly reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes, certain types of cancer, back pain, joint problems, and more. In other words, you can maximize all the goodies that life has to offer! Here’s our best advice to get you where you want to be.

10 Reasons to Lose Weight
1. Live to see your grandchildren, great-grandchildren—even great-great-grandchildren

2. Be able to romp with all those kids

3. Keep your mind sharp

4. Increase your energy level

5. Protect your immunity

6. Reduce your risk of breast cancer, heart disease, and stroke

7. Manage menopause more easily

8. Reduce stress

9. Breathe easier

10. Feel fabulous!

10 Foods That Fill You Up
These foods will fill you up with the fewest calories:

Potatoes

Fish

Oatmeal

Oranges

Apples

Whole wheat pasta

Grapes

Air-popped popcorn

Bran cereal

Soup

10 Fun Ways to Burn Calories
Here’s a list of activities with the calories you’ll burn per hour doing them.

Jumping rope, 544

Roller-skating, 476

Bicycling, 408

Swimming, 408

Hopscotching with the kids, 340

Ballroom dancing, 296

Coaching your kid’s soccer team, 272

Paddling a canoe, 238

Walking in the woods, 238

Playing Frisbee, 204

(Calorie figures based on a 150-lb person)

10 Easy Ways to Flatten Your Belly
1. Eat a bowl of raspberries. Packed with fiber, they fight constipation (that can swell your midsection like a balloon).

2. Drink lots of water. It’s filling, calorie-free, and keeps your metabolism running in high gear.

3. Skip the cocktails. Sure, alcohol may be fat-free, but it’s loaded with calories. It can also raise your levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that helps your belly store fat.

4. Sit up straight. Hunching forward makes your belly look bigger. For a slimming effect that actually trains the stomach-supporting muscles to stay taut, sit with your shoulders back, chin up, and lower back supported against the chair.

5. Plant a garden. All the bending, lifting, and twisting help shape your middle, and you’ll burn about 350 calories an hour.

6. Move your hips. Hula hooping works on the same calorie-burning, waist-whittling principle as gardening—but with less dirt.

7. Hit the greens. Ditching the golf cart earns you a walking workout; whacking the ball tones and tightens your midriff.

8. Get a leg up. Crunches with your legs off the floor tone the upper portion of your ab muscles. Lie on your back with your legs propped up on a bed or chair. Curl up slowly, raising your head, shoulders, and upper back off the floor, then slowly lower. Do 10 to 12 repetitions, two or three times a week.

9. Reverse that crunch. To tighten your tummy from a different angle, lie on the floor with your arms at your sides, feet off the floor, and your legs and knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Contract your abdominals and press your back into the floor, lifting your hips about 2 to 4 inches off the floor. Hold, then lower. Do 10 to 12 repetitions, two or three times a week.10. Do crossover crunches. To work the muscles that define your waistline (the obliques), lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Place your right ankle on your left knee and your hands behind your head, elbows pointing out. Lifting your head and upper back off the floor, twist, and bring your left shoulder toward your right knee. Hold, then slowly lower. Do 10 to 12 repetitions, then repeat to the other side. Do two or three times a week.

What an Opportunity!
Seek out new ways to be active—investigate a mountain vacation that involves hiking, or start viewing a chore such as raking the leaves as a great workout.

All-Time Best Recipe
Readers told us again and again how great this smoothie is for curbing cravings.

Classic Smoothie Recipe
Mix the following ingredients in a blender until smooth. Feel free to experiment, adding a touch of vanilla, cinnamon, or your other favorite flavors to taste.

1 cup fat-free milk (or soy milk)

1/2 frozen banana or 1/2 cup frozen mango slices

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup frozen fruit (We recommend strawberries, pineapple chunks, or blueberries.)

Per shake (approximate): 220 cal, 1 g fat, 4 mg chol, 5 g fiber, 130 mg sodium

10 Smartest Ways to Slim Down
1. Eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Skipping meals can set you up for bingeing. Studies show that people who spread their food intake throughout the day eat fewer calories.

2. Pack snacks. Whether you’re at the mall, in the car, or at work, keep yourself armed with healthy snacks to help you resist fat-and-calorie-laden temptations from vending machines and fast-food joints.

3. Team up. Enlisting the help of a partner or friend can boost your motivation and help you stay on track.

4. Start writing. Keeping a food or exercise log not only helps chart your progress, but it’s also a great way to spot minor slips in your routine before they become major problems.

5. Compliment yourself. Treat you as you treat those you love. Focus on your successes, not failures—and give yourself a pat on the back each day.

6. Get moving. Whether you walk, run, bike, or swim, aerobic exercise is key to weight loss success. Work up to doing at least 45 minutes, 5 or more days a week.7. Be a little selfish. You need to make time for yourself if you want to achieve your goal.

8. Have two helpings. Filling your plate with two kinds of vegetables, not just one, ups your nutritional intake and leaves less room on your plate for fatty foods.

9. Take one bite at a time. “Mindful eating,” which involves concentrating on taste and sensation to make each mouthful an event, maximizes your food satisfaction and minimizes the odds of overeating.

10. Lift weights. Resistance training builds muscles, which boost the number of calories that your body burns throughout the day—making weight loss easier. Aim for two or three workouts a week.

I Can Do It
Instead of saying, “My weight loss efforts haven’t worked before; they probably won’t work now,” tell yourself, “That’s enough. I can do anything that I put my mind to.” Create a new sound track in your head.

Keep Low-Cal Cooking Quick & Easy
Stock your kitchen with these low-fat, low-calorie staples, and eating right will be a cinch:

Fresh garlic

Butter-flavored cooking spray

Canned beans: Kidney, black, and navy are stellar fiber sources; rinse first to remove some of the sodium.

Fat-free chicken broth: Keep a can on hand to whip up an easy vegetable soup (add frozen veggies) or mashed potatoes so flavorful that you won’t miss the butter.

Water-packed tuna

Grated low-fat cheese

Instant grain dishes: Think couscous, tabbouleh, even boil-in-bag rice.

Zesty spices: Chili powder, red-pepper flakes, and curry blends add salt-free zip to recipes. They’re great as toppings for air-popped popcorn too.

Canned mandarin oranges: They’re a creative addition to salads and simple desserts, especially when your fresh fruit supply runs low or is out of season.

A pack of pitas or tortillas: Use them as sandwich wraps, or cut them into wedges and bake to make your own low-fat chips.

10 Snacks Less Than 175 Calories
1. Half of a whole grain bagel: spread with jam or low-fat cream cheese

2. One almond, one date: Stuff the former into the latter for satisfying sweetness and nutty crunch.

3. Baby carrots: Eat a handful with a creamy dip (mix 1/4 cup salsa with 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream).

4. Whole wheat pretzels (1 1/2 oz): A bona fide snack food that’s not junk food.

5. Banana: Portable, peelable, and around 100 calories.

6. Sweet potato: If you think of it only as a side dish to a meal, you’re missing out on a great snack. Baked and cooled, it’s a delicious alternative to fruit.

7. A cup of instant bean soup: Fiber-packed and filling—just add water!8. Whole grain cereal: Low-fat, low-sugar choices such as Cheerios or Wheat Chex aren’t just for breakfast. Slip 1/2 cup into a plastic bag to eat when you’re on the go.

9. Low-fat string cheese (2 oz): The perking power of protein and the rich bite of cheese—without all that nasty fat.

10. Lions and tigers and bears: Oh my—animal crackers weigh in at only 12 calories each.

Cave In to a Chocolate Craving
You can say “yes!” to these chocolate cravings for less than 200 calories.

1. M&Ms (1 oz): A melt-in-your-mouth favorite, with only 140 calories

2. Haagen-Dazs chocolate sorbet (1/2 cup): Intense flavor at only 120 calories (and zero fat!).

3. Hershey’s chocolate syrup (2 table-spoons): At 100 calories and no fat, it’s a virtuous topping for fruit or angel food cake.

4. Chocolate truffle (1): Savoring the flavor of a small portion of the food you really crave can prevent you from pigging out on poor substitutes.

5. Chocolate mousse (1/2-cup serving): Prepare instant chocolate pudding with 1% milk, and fold in low-fat whipped topping.

6. Hot chocolate (1 cup): Make it yourself with fat-free milk and chocolate syrup, or just add water to an envelope of low-cal instant.

7. Chocolate tortilla roll-ups (1): Spray a large tortilla with butter-flavored cooking spray, and sprinkle with ground cinnamon, sugar, and cocoa. Cut into quarters. Roll each quarter from the pointed end around a thick-handled kitchen utensil, seal the overlap with egg white, and bake seam-down at 350°F for 10 minutes. Cool, and fill with low-fat vanilla yogurt.

8. Hershey’s Kisses (7): This handful has a combined 175 calories.

9. Low-fat mocha latte (1 cup): Use chocolate-flavored coffee topped with 1% milk that you’ve whisked into a froth. Dust with real cocoa powder.

10. Low-fat chocolate chip cookies: Three of these traditional favorites are about 150 calories.

There’s No Magic Number
Don’t measure your success solely by the number on the scale. Your weight will naturally fluctuate by a couple of pounds some days. Give yourself a weight range of 5 to 10 pounds to allow for these changes. Use other methods, such as your clothes or tape measurements, to track your progress.

Seven Ways to Break Up Exercise Boredom
1. Change your venue. Bored to tears by your treadmill workout? Take a walk outside instead. Your after work routine has become too routine? Get up earlier. Changing where or when you exercise, even if you’re doing the same activity, is a great way to change your outlook.

2. Find fun exercise. Investigate sports and hobbies that enhance your activity level. Backpacking, mountain biking, kayaking, even bowling can all burn calories—but they don’t feel like workouts.

3. Act their age. Join the kids for a game of backyard touch football or tag. Capitalize on their infectious energy.

4. Make a date. Treat exercise as social time by pairing up with a friend or your spouse. By committing to someone else, you’ll be less likely to skip your workout.

5. Count backwards. Ever notice how your trip back from a great destination seems shorter than your trip there? Apply that principle to exercise by counting reps backwards—from 10 to 1, instead of 1 to 10.

6. Lend a hand. Support causes such as breast cancer, AIDS, or multiple sclerosis by doing fund-raising walks, bike rides, or runs. Beyond the exercise, you’ll feel good about what you’re doing, as well as fortunate to have a healthy body to do it.

7. Gear up. Add a new twist to your routine with equipment such as a heart rate monitor or pedometer. Tracking your workouts with these types of devices keeps things interesting.

One Slip Up Won’t Stop Me
If you’ve fallen off the weight loss wagon, stop feeling like a failure; focus on the challenge ahead. The sooner you climb back on, the sooner you’ll see the results!

Don’t Let Stress Make You Fat
Next time you’ve had a bad day at work or a fight with your spouse, or are just being pulled in too many directions, try one of these stress busters instead of raiding the fridge:

1. Get out in nature. The gentle swaying of windblown trees or the meandering of a stream can slow body rhythms that have built to a stress-induced peak.

2. Take the slow road. Hopping in the car to run errands may seem practical, but traffic’s another stressor. Bike or walk whenever you can. If you must drive, don’t jockey for position. Chill out in the right-hand lane.

3. Turn on the stereo. Soothing music has been shown to ease anxiety and lower blood pressure and heart rate, even under superstressful conditions.

4. Get up and dance. Besides being great exercise, it releases endorphins, your body’s mood-elevating chemicals that help erase stress.

5. Savor silence. Even a total of 10 to 15 minutes of quiet time per day helps you eliminate the buzz in your brain and experience some serenity.

6. Laugh out loud! Humor can actually inoculate against anxiety: One study found that people who watched an episode of Seinfeld before tackling a stressful task didn’t show the spikes in blood pressure and heart rate that their humorless study counterparts did.

There’s Always Another Way
Accept substitutions: If the late hour won’t allow you to work out at the gym, don’t give up on exercise that day. Take a walk around the neighborhood, pop in an exercise video, or do lunges around the kitchen as you cook dinner.

Last Updated: 12/04/2006 16:09:17

2007 Rodale Inc. All rights reserved. Prevention ® is a Registered Trademark of Rodale Inc. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Rodale Inc.

I got this article from: http://health.yahoo.com/weightloss-getstarted/tips-to-take-off-pounds/prevention–17517.html

Managing Migraines

Managing Migraines

One of my friends describes her migraines as a pain storm that splits her skull across her right temple, liquifying her brain until it feels like it’s oozing out through her ears. The sound of a phone ringing is like a cartoon frying pan slamming the top of her head. Daylight is like a paintball gun filled with needles shot straight through her eyeballs. Once they strike, these intense, throbbing headaches last anywhere from a few hours to three days. When they hit, all she can do is take rescue medication, lie in a darkened room, and wait for the incapacitating pain to resolve.

My friend used to get migraines three times a week. After working with her doctor to find the right preventive medication, she cut the frequency by half, so she got only about six migraines a month. Then, after identifying and eliminating food triggers from her diet, the number fell to about one or two headaches per month. The quality of her life has greatly improved! Yours can too….

The following list provides common migraine triggers. Keep a migraine diary to spot personal patterns. Knowing your problematic triggers can often help minimize migraine frequency and pain.

Foods. Many everyday foods are big, big triggers. Here’s a general list of the main migraine triggers.

Stress. When we are stressed, our bodies react physically—muscles tense, hormones become elevated, and migraines can be triggered.

Hormonal changes. Because estrogen and progesterone are such potent migraine triggers, women are nearly three times more likely than men to experience migraines. In fact, there is a subset of headache known as the menstrual migraine, which can occur one or two days before the start of a woman’s period, or during the first day or two of her period.

Intense sensory stimuli. Bright light, loud noises, and strong smells—such as cleaning chemicals, cigarette smoke, raw onions, and perfume—can trigger migraines.

Physical exertion or abrupt lifestyle changes. Jumping into an extreme exercise program can cause migraines, changing sleep patterns, alternating work shifts, or anything else that breaks your body out of its lifestyle habits. If you push yourself in a demanding job all week long, you’ll be more likely to get a migraine when you finally slow down over the weekend. On the flip side, if you enjoy a weekend with a little too much fun, you may develop a Monday migraine.

Environmental factors. Some people get migraines when there are changes in the air…literally. Their headaches coincide with the arrival of thunderstorms, sudden changes in altitude or barometric pressure, wind storms, seasonal changes, pollen levels, and even changes in daytime hours during daylight savings time or travel across time zones.

Medications. Given that medications can have a wide range of side effects, it is no surprise that some can cause migraines. You need to be especially wary of antihistamines, decongestants, blood pressure medications, oral contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy, and prescription pain medications. Interestingly, migraines can also be triggered if you stop taking prescription or over-the-counter pain medications (such as aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen), a phenomenon called rebound.

I got this article from: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/joybauernutrition/10423/managing-migraines/

Migraine Trigger Foods

Migraine Trigger Foods

The most important role food plays in migraines is as a trigger. Not all the foods on this list will cause migraines in all sufferers, and some people have no food sensitivities. In order to determine what your particular triggers are, I recommend keeping a migraine diary. If you discover that one of the foods listed here is a trigger for you, then you know that you should avoid that particular food if you want to minimize migraine frequency.

Common Food triggers include:

Tyramine or Phenylethylamine: Chocolate, aged or fermented cheese, soy foods, all nuts and most seeds, citrus fruits, vinegar (red and balsamic), along with other foods containing tyramine or phenylethylamine.

Alcohol. Beer, red wine, sherry, and vermouth contain large amounts of tyramine, which can cause migraines. In addition, all alcohol can cause dehydration, which also can trigger headaches.

Avoid eating leftovers. Because tyramine content increases over time, especially if food is improperly stored, avoid eating leftovers.

Tannins: Tea, red skinned apples and pears, apple juice and cider, and red wine, which contain tannins.

Deli meats and other food containing Nitrites. These include pepperoni, bacon, hot dogs, sausages (including chicken, turkey and soy sausages/bacon/hotdogs that list nitrites in their ingredients), bologna, pastrami, jerky (beef and turkey), corned beef, and all other beef/poultry/pork/wild game/fish that have been cured, smoked, pickled, canned, or preserved with nitrites.

Wine and other foods containing Sulfites. This preservative is commonly found in wine (more so in red), most dried fruits are typically preserved with sulfites (including prunes, figs, apricots, etc.), canned vegetables, and many processed foods.

Additives. Check labels carefully and avoid foods that contain monosodium glutamate (MSG), hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP), kombu extract, any products claiming to have “natural flavor” or “natural flavorings.”

Aspartame. Can trigger migraines in some people. Be cautious of foods and beverages made with this artificial sweetener (also known as Nutrasweet and Equal).

Caffeine. People with sensitivity to caffeine can develop migraines after drinking black tea, green tea, coffee, cola soft drinks, or other caffeinated soft drinks. But caffeine can also be used to stop a migraine that is just beginning—that’s why many over-the-counter migraine medications contain caffeine. Test your personal response to caffeine. If it gives you headaches, avoid it. Otherwise, try drinking one cup of coffee or 2 cups of strong black tea at the start of your next migraine to see if it helps. In 2005, German researchers reported that when people took a combination of 250 milligrams of aspirin, 200 milligrams of acetaminophen, and 50 milligrams of caffeine (an average 8-ounce mug of coffee has 100 milligrams caffeine) at the start of their migraines, they had better and faster pain relief than people who did not take the caffeine.

I got this article from: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/joybauernutrition/10427/migraine-trigger-foods/

Foods That Help Lower Blood Pressure

 

Optimal blood pressure is at or below 120/80 mmHg. If you’ve been diagnosed with high blood pressure, your doctor has probably already told you the basics.

You can control blood pressure by getting to and maintaining a healthy weight, reducing your bad cholesterol (LDL) if it’s high, limiting the salt/sodium in your diet, exercising, and adding calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, and potassium to your food plan.

The following eight foods are among the best of the best when it comes to lowering your blood pressure.

1. Skim milk
Skim milk provides calcium and Vitamin D – two nutrients which work as a team to help reduce blood pressure by about 3 to 10 percent. Although this doesn’t sound like much, it could add up to about 15 percent reduction in risk for cardiovascular disease.

2. Spinach  

 

3. Unsalted sunflower seeds  

4. Beans (black, white, navy, lima, pinto, kidney)
Spinach, unsalted sunflower seeds and beans are each loaded with magnesium, a key ingredient for lowering and maintaining blood pressure levels. These three foods also provide a hearty dose of potassium – double bonus (see below).

  

5. Baked white potato  

 

6. Banana

 

7. Soybeans
These three foods provide ample potassium. Your blood levels of potassium and sodium are inextricably linked. When potassium is low, the body retains sodium (and too much sodium raises blood pressure).

When potassium is high, the body gets rid of sodium. Eating potassium-rich foods is important for maintaining a healthy balance of both minerals, and, by extension, for keeping blood pressure low. 

*Important note: do not take potassium supplements unless specifically prescribed by your doctor. Too much potassium will upset the balance, and could have serious, even life-threatening consequences. 

8. Dark Chocolate
Hooray for dark chocolate! Eating about 30 calories a day – less than half an ounce of dark chocolate was associated with a lowering of blood pressure, without weight gain or other adverse effects, according to a study in the July 4, 2007, issue of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association). 

I got this article from: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/joybauernutrition/22842/foods-that-help-lower-blood-pressure/

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Sexy Glutes! How to Get a Firm, Round, Sexy Butt!

Are you a candidate for a super glute makeover? When you look at yourself in profile or from the back view, is what you see back there firm, pert and sitting up nicely, or is it flabby, droopy and/or barely there?

Well, if it’s one of the latter, don’t despair. With just a few basic exercises and changes in your diet, you too can have that firm, round, sexy butt that looks great both in jeans and out.
Here’s how to get it:

#1 – Squats and Lunges Are Your Friend

Squatting and lunging with weights a minimum of 3 x a week will make a big difference in the shape, tone and appearance of your backside. For best results, squat or lunge with a weighted bar across your shoulders. Walking or mobile lunges are also great for toning up the entire back of the leg and the glutes.

Do as many as you can per session. At the gym, use the weighted leg press, Smith machine and butt press with medium weights. Do 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps

#2 – Up the Protein, Cut the Fat

In your diet, eat more lean proteins, cut down on foods high in processed sugars, and avoid fried and greasy foods loaded with saturated fat like margarine and butter. The extra protein will help in the development of your gluteal muscles, and eliminating the bad fats and sticking with the good fats found in items like flax oil, soy oil, salmon and tuna, will help insure that the natural layer of fat covering your glutes will be more smooth and supple as opposed to cottage cheesy cellulite.

#3 – Get Up Off Your Butt!

Yes, sitting around on it too much, or in other words, not staying active, will definitely cause your backside to spread out a bit. If you don’t “use it”, you certainly will lose it. The firmness and shapeliness of it, that is.

Keep it moving, and engage in activities that require serious legwork like dancing, kickboxing, soccer and stair climbing. Within time, you’ll see that derriere of yours start to perk up, round out and start looking firm and fabulous. And isn’t that how it should be? You bet, and yours can be that way too!

You can get more weight loss and fitness tips by Yvonne Bridges at http://thefitnessdiva.blogspot.com Yvonne is a top fitness instructor and ex Golden Gloves champion boxer living in New York City. She also authors the website http://CelebrityDietsandFitness.net Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yvonne_Bridges

I got this article from: http://ezinearticles.com/?id=969766

Putting the Fun in Fitness

One thing I always tell my class members is: “If staying fit was easy, everyone would be fit. You wouldn’t see any fat people anywhere”. And it’s true. You could say the same thing about being rich. If it was easy to get rich, you’d be tripping over billionaires every time you walked down the street. There’d be no poor. But it’s not so easy, is it? Both things require diligent, hard work. But just because the work is hard, that doesn’t mean you can’t also be having some fun along the way.

When it comes to fitness, fun, in my opinion, should definitely be a part of the mix. Because if it’s not enjoyable in some way, you’re not going to look forward to doing it. It becomes a task, a chore, something that you have to get through. If that begins to be the way you view your workouts, you’re going to be fighting an uphill battle when it comes to staying in shape. Then you will eventually want to quit.

So here are a few good ways to get and keep the “F factor”, Fun, alive in your fitness regimen. First of all…

- Choose activities that you already like.

Think about the games you used to play as a kid or the sports you participated in in school. If you can find adult leagues and organizations that offer those or similar activities, join up. You can also just add elements of those particular activities into your workouts. If dancing is something you enjoy, try adding dance based classes and workouts to your weekly lineup. Whatever your favorite physical activity is, you can be sure that there is someplace you can go and join in. Find it and get involved!

- Create your own perfect exercise environment

The right setting, the right music and sometimes also the right people can make a difference. Like the outdoors? Start doing your workouts at a park so you can enjoy the fresh air. Prefer a calm, quiet place where you can focus without any distractions? Find the least used space in your gym or park and set up camp right there. Inspired by being around other exercisers? Then the gym or any active place where you can be around such folks is where you need to go.

- Roll with the beats

Music is emotionally motivating and is a perfect, easy way of adding in the F factor. Choose music that you really like and use it every time you do your routines. You’ll find yourself more pumped up and enthusiastic, and whatever you’re doing, you’ll probably go at it longer and with more energy. Also, you will look forward to workouts, knowing that you’ll get to listen to your favorite “pump me up” tunes whenever that time rolls around.

- Feed off the positive energy that can be found in a group

Working out alone kind of dull? Then join a group of like minded people to work out with. Not only will it be more fun, but you’ll have camaraderie, more energy to feed off of, and also extra support from those around you. That will really keep you motivated and looking forward to the next time. Each workout will be like one big party! The more, the merrier!

- Let the gym be your stage

Are you a natural show off? Well, if that’s the case, you can turn work out time into your own little show time. Don your hottest exercise threads, get in there, and flex to impress with the best of them! You know you’re going to have a captive audience, so step up front and center and show ‘em how it’s done! Knowing that you’re being checked out, you thrive on rising to the occasion and giving a high caliber performance. Whether you’re the fierce diva in the aerobics class, or top stud in the weight room, take your rightful place, show ‘em what you’re working with, and let your talent shine! No shy wall flower are you! Make that work for you, and pump it for everything it’s worth! Your fans await!

And finally…

- Tell your trainer that he/she is boring

Well, not quite like that! What I mean is don’t be afraid to tell your trainer that you’re getting bored with the workouts. Those of you working with trainers know that sometimes confronting your trainer with any suggestions can be scary. We sometimes put our personal trainers on such a pedestal that we are intimidated or reluctant to question or suggest anything other than what the trainer is already doing with us. But remember, while your trainer is certainly a knowledgeable and motivating force, he or she doesn’t know you as well as you know yourself when it comes to your likes and dislikes. Also, sometimes trainers can get locked into a certain mindset and particular way of training that focuses only on achieving the result. You can have the results and a little more fun here and there if it’s done right. If you want a more fun workout, don’t be afraid to let your trainer know. Challenge her/him to make your workouts both fierce AND fun! Remember, it’s YOUR dime, and if you don’t let your trainer know that you want something different in your workouts, you’ll never get it.

The bottom line is, working out does not have to be this torturous, monotonous chore or trial that you have to drag yourself to, suffer through, and hope to soon be over with. With the right elements in place, you can turn your workout into some good, quality “me” time; a bright, shiny spot in your day that you look forward to and can’t wait to be a part of. Add in the F factor, and soon you’ll find yourself speeding through your work and knocking every obstacle that pops up out of your way so you can get to that happy time where it’s all about you, you body and some serious fun and sweat! Now get to it!

You can get more weight loss and fitness tips by Yvonne Bridges at http://thefitnessdiva.blogspot.com Yvonne is a top fitness instructor and ex Golden Gloves champion boxer living in New York City. She also authors the website http://CelebrityDietsandFitness.net Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yvonne_Bridges

I got this article from: http://ezinearticles.com/?Putting-the-Fun-in-Fitness&id=972080

My blog header, etc…

My blog header is a custom header that I put up to signify the “long road” I am on to get where I want/need to be weight/spirit wise.  This morning I took Shawna and Laci for a nice LONG walk around our neighborhood.  Of course I was ready for it to be over before they were but I carried on because if I’m going to get the weight off I’m going to have to do somethings I just flat out don’t want to do.  As a result of me “sucking it up” we were gone for almost an hour!  All three of us came home and sat down for a little bit to get ourselves back together again.  I had hoped that after two weeks of walking at least once a day I wouldn’t be “huffing and puffing” near as much but I still am. Maybe we’re gonna have to step our game up a little bit and try something different?