Monday, June 15, 2009

Easy ways for a super flat abdomen

Note: Do not consume any refined sugars, sweetened beverages or aerated colas or juices or other fats than essential fatty acids, as your dietry fat consumption in your daily routine diet.
1. Eat foods rich in monounsaturated fats (MUFAs)
For nearly two decades, scientists have been telling us that a MUFA-rich diet has a highly protective effect against heart disease and diabetes. And evidence has emerged more recently that it also significantly reduces the risk of breast and lung cancer.
At first, it was thought that MUFA-rich olive oil was the key to a healthy diet. It’s now known that other MUFA-rich foods, including vegetable oils, nuts and seeds, avocados and dark chocolate, are equally healthy.
Only recently, however, have scientists made the connection that healthy can also be attractive. MUFAs exert their healthy effect, it seems, by shifting toxic belly fat – thereby freeing up the internal organs, reducing inflammation and improving blood-flow. A MUFA-rich diet also flattens the belly – as a series of studies published in the last year or so have shown.
The American dietician and sports nutritionist Cynthia Sass realised the significance of this research and teamed up with Liz Vaccariello, editor of America’s biggest selling health magazine, Prevention, to write the best-selling Flat Belly Diet: How to Get the Flat Stomach You’ve Always Wanted (Rodale, £12.99). The resulting diet book promises a flat stomach with no sit-ups required, and serves up an abundance of scrumptious MUFA-rich menus that should also extend your life and improve your well-being.
Does it work? Yes, according to research just completed by the Prevention Research Centre at Yale University School of Medicine. A group of nine women who followed the four-week Flat Belly Diet lost 33 per cent of their visceral belly fat (as shown by MRI scan) as well as 8.4 pounds in weight and 1.6 inches off their waistline over four weeks.
2. Avoid bloating
Much of your paunchy belly is nothing but trapped wind – and a good deal of the rest is solid food and liquid that’s loitering in your abdomen. That’s why the Flat Belly Diet starts with a four day “anti-bloat jump-start” based on good nutritional guidelines – “It’s not a dangerous detox plan. It’s wholesome food prepared in simple, delicious ways,” says Sass. The dietician found that she could beat the bloat with a few small changes such as “drinking lots of water, trading my crisp, fresh apple for a few, less bulky dried figs and swapping peanuts for milder pumpkin or sunflower seeds”.
Avoiding the bloat is all about treating your gut with respect. Here’s how to do it:
* Eat slowly to avoid swallowing air
* Cut out fizzy drinks; where do you think the bubbles go?
* Be aware of the impact of particular foods: pulses, dried fruits, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, sprouts, peppers and citrus fruits are more likely to create wind in your gut
* Reduce your salt intake; this makes you retain more fluid, contributing to a sluggish feeling, a puffy appearance and extra weight
* Avoid raw vegetables: a 60g serving of cooked carrots delivers the same nutrition as 115g raw but takes up less room. If you eat only cooked vegetables, tinned fruits in natural juices and unsweetened dry fruit, you’ll meet your nutrient needs without expanding your stomach with extra volume
* Don’t chew gum. It makes you swallow air and that gets trapped in your stomach, causing bloating and belly expansion
* Avoid fried food, which you can only digest slowly, causing you to feel bloated
* Eat regularly, and avoid erratic eating habits. Long gaps between meals, smoking and drinking alcohol or coffee on an empty stomach will make your bloating worse.
3. Cut out bread
People who avoid bread, even temporarily, tend to be dismissed as victims of media hype who are at risk of missing out on a convenient source of important nutrients.
There’s little independent research to assess the impact of bread on health, even though modern commercial baking methods are clearly problematic, according to the organic baker Andrew Whitley, founder of the Village Bakery and the author of the book Bread Matters. He says that many of the “anti-staling” enzymes that are added to dough to keep bread soft after baking and to extend shelf-life are not normally consumed as food. “No wonder many people have a gut feeling that modern bread makes them bloated,” he says.
4. Reduce stress
When you’re chronically stressed, your mind and body can conspire to load the lard around your waist, according to Vaccariello. The stress hormone cortisol stimulates the appetite and induces cravings for sugar and fat, the most easily burned fuels. But, Vaccariello says, the problem is that “cortisol also signals the body to store fat on the belly. It’s nature’s way of ensuring that resources are readily and easily available for fuel when the body needs them for life-preserving exertion.”
5. Get core stability
A saggy belly is a side effect of poorly functioning core muscles. So don’t bother with crunches – they don’t target abdominal muscles, says Vaccariello. Instead, combine aerobic exercise – half hour of fast walking every day, for instance – with a “belly-centric” workout that targets the body’s natural corset, the muscles that spread around the waist and, together with the pelvic floor and diaphragm, make up your inner core. A study showed that a combination of the MUFA diet and 10 minutes of core stability exercise every day gets rid of double the quantity of visceral fat as diet alone.
The “Hover” exercise, also known as the “Plank”, is one of the best routines to strengthen core muscles:
* Lie face down, with your upper body propped on your forearms and your elbows directly beneath the shoulders.
* Contract the torso muscles, lifting belly and legs off the floor so that the body forms a straight line from head to heels. Keep abdominal muscles tight so your belly doesn’t droop.
* Hold the position for 15 seconds. Increase the hold by 15 seconds each week so that by week four you’re holding for one minute. Doing just one of these “Hover” exercises every day will make a difference.
6. Diet alterations
#1: Replace the red meat you eat with more lean cuts including more fish. The nutrients here are outstanding for you, but the real benefit lies in not eating the highly saturated fatty red meat.#2: Eat more fiber. Invest in having as much natural fiber as possible in your diet. You can get this from some vegetables and fruits. Fiber flushes out the toxins in the body and gives your body the sense of being full, which will help you to stop overeating.#3: Portion control is very important. Eating fewer calories is essential to losing any weight that is hiding around your mid section.
7.Cardio
For easy ways to get a flat stomach, choose fun aerobic exercises that you enjoy. These will help you go get better results because you are more likely to do them. Here are a few easy ways to get a flat stomach.
8. Weight TrainingNow, when it all comes down to it, you have to do some weight training which will help to strengthen the muscles in your abdominal region. It is not always easy to find easy ways to get a flat stomach in terms of weight training work outs. The key here is to realize that the work that it does take to get fit will pay off in the long term with a fit body and nice, tight abs.The following are some easy ways to get a flat stomach for your body while doing a bit of weight training.*Do some basic muscle strengthening exercises for the abs including sit ups and crunches. These can help to strengthen those muscles, especially initially, and helps to tone them. To make them more enjoyable, try to do them along with the beat of a song or race someone else.*Lunges are another great way to help strengthen the mid section. While most would say this is not true, these are easy ways to get a flat stomach, when you incorporate weights. You will see improvements in your body nearly right away.*When it comes to toning up that mid section there are many products on the market that should be helpful to you. Consider those that add weight to your muscles to push them to the next level.The goal of weight training exercises is to strengthen the muscle by expanding its size and tightening it up. Easy ways to get a flat stomach rarely consider the benefits of toning but they can be critical to those who are looking for a smooth, tight stomach or even that fabulous six pack abs.These are all some of the best ways to get back in shape. Keep in mind that these easy ways to get a flat stomach need to be done fairly regularly if you wish to see results. Try to work out every day, or at least get in some form of cardio work outs each day. This consistency helps to establish strong muscles which do have that great flat look to them.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Must eats everyday


Apples: 1. Keeps the doctor away( well known proverb)
2. Keeps weight under control.
3. Apples are nutrient dense( contains fiber, minerals , antioxidant, water)
Spinach: 1.Very low in calories
2. Contains antioxidant, beta carotene, luetin zeaxanthin, calcium, potassium, Mg, Vit C, E, K, folic acid.
Milk :1. Protein-casein can build you up
2. Try skimmed milk to aid in weight loss.
Oats :1.Oat grain and bran reduces risk of heart disease and lowers cholesterol
2 Oats contain unique antioxidant called avenanthramides, which prevents free radicals from damaging the good HDL cholesterol.
3. Great source of complex carbohydrates which contains high amount of antioxidant selenium.
Garlic :1.Gaurds us against heart disease, dramatically lowers bad cholesterol, fights bacteria and gives your immune system a boost.
Flax seeds/fish:1. Both contain omega-3-fatty acids which helps keeping your eyes, brain and reproductive system healthy.
Lime/guava/orange/blueberries: Powerful antioxidants that prevent memory loss and neuronal depletion.
Nuts :Almonds, walnuts both prevent cancer, heart disease, keeps cholesterol at bay, also contains omega3-fatty acids, antioxidant properties.

10 STRATERGIES TO BOOST YOUR MEMORY


Before you study for your next exam, you might want to use a few strategies to boost your memory of important information. There are a number of tried and tested techniques for improving memory. These strategies have been established within cognitive psychology literature and offer a number of great ways to improve memory, enhance recall, and increase retention of information.
1. Focus your attention on the materials you are studying.
Attention is one of the major components of memory. In order for information to move from short-term memory into long-term memory, you need to actively attend to this information. Try to study in a place free of distractions such as television, music, and other divers
2. Avoid cramming by establishing regular study sessions.
According to Bjork (2001), studying materials over a number of session’s gives you the time you need to adequately process the information. Research has shown that students who study regularly remember the material far better that those did all of their studying in one marathon session.
3. Structure and organize the information you are studying.
Researchers have found that information is organized in memory in related clusters. You can take advantage of this by structuring and organizing the materials you are studying. Try grouping similar concepts and terms together, or make an outline of your notes and textbook readings to help group related concepts.
4. Utilize mnemonic devices to remember information.
Mnemonic devices are a technique often used by students to aid in recall. A mnemonic is simply a way to remember information. For example, you might associate a term you need to remember with a common item that you are very familiar with. The best mnemonics are those that utilize positive imagery, humor, or novelty. You might come up with a rhyme, song, or joke to help remember a specific segment of information.
5. Elaborate and rehearse the information you are studying.
In order to recall information, you need to encode what you are studying into long-term memory. One of the most effective encoding techniques is known as elaborative rehearsal. An example of this technique would be to read the definition of a key term, study the definition of that term, and then read a more detailed description of what that term means. After repeating this process a few times, your recall of the information will be far better.
6. Relate new information to things you already know.
When you are studying unfamiliar material, take the time to think about how this information relates to things that you already know. By establishing relationships between new ideas and previously existing memories, you can dramatically increase the likelihood of recalling the recently learned information.
7. Visualize concepts to improve memory and recall.
Many people benefit greatly from visualizing the information they study. Pay attention to the photographs, charts, and other graphics in your textbooks. If you don’t have visual cues to help, try creating your own. Draw charts or figures in the margins of your notes or use highlighters or pens in different colors to group related ideas in your written study materials.
8. Teach new concepts to another person.
Research suggests that reading materials out loud significantly improves memory of the material. Educators and psychologists have also discovered that having students actually teach new concepts to others enhances understanding and recall. You can use this approach in your own study by teaching new concepts and information to a friend or study partner.
9. Pay extra attention to difficult information.
Have you ever noticed how it's sometimes easier to remember information at the beginning or end of a chapter? Researchers have found that the position of information can play a role in recall, which is known as the serial position effect. While recalling middle information can be difficult, you can overcome this problem by spending extra time rehearsing this information or try restructuring the information so it will be easier to remember. When you come across an especially difficult concept, devote some extra time to memorizing the information.
10. Vary your study routine.
Another great way to increase your recall is to occasionally change your study routine. If you are accustomed to studying in one specific location, try moving to a different spot to study. If you study in the evening, try to spend a few minutes each morning reviewing the information you studied the previous night. By adding an element of novelty to your study sessions, you can increase the effectiveness of your efforts and significantly improve your long-term recall.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

EFFICIENT CARDIO AND YOU !


· Too much steady state cardiovascular endurance exercise increases free radical production in the body, can breakdown joints, decrease immune function, cause muscle wasting, and can cause a pro-inflammatory response in the body that can potentially lead to chronic diseases.
· The first thing we need to understand is our bodies are designed to work for short periods followed by recovery, or with a natural stop and go movement rather than the constant repetition you get with cardio exercise.
· Over-training effects both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in the following negative ways:
. Higher resting heart rate-Weak appetite-High blood pressure-Weight loss-Trouble sleeping-Increased metabolic rate-Irritability-Early onset of fatigue
· Here is a list of how over-training can effect the metabolic system. These symptoms are the ones that are most commonly discussed, and are ones we can't ignore:-Micro tears in the muscle-Chronically depleted glycogen levels-Slow, weak muscle contractions-Depleted creatine phosphate stores-Excessive accumulation of lactic acid-Extreme DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness)Tendon and connective tissue damage
· Overtraining with high intensity workouts can lead to increased resting catecholamines. Catecholamines are stress hormones.
· The training philosophy of "no pain, no gain" should be discouraged to diminish the likelihood of overtraining and injury.
· Endurance trained individuals who work out for hours at a time have been shown to have an overactive pituitary gland
· Too much of cardiovascular endurance exercises can develop a rare but life-threatening condition called ventricular arrhythmia (VA) in which the heart beats at an abnormal rate and rhythm.
· Too much of cardiovascular training can induce adverse effects on menstrual cycle of women, thus affecting their cycles by causing amenorrhea and onset of premature osteoporosis in athletic women.
. If you’re a beginner trying to shred a few pounds ,a cardio protocol which includes 30 mins of regular endurance training 5 days a week is safely recommended , to burn all the excess fat efficiently.
· If you’re a beginner, just gyming for general fitness, then a endurance protocol of 30 mins ,3-4 days a week is considered optimum.
· If you are of intermediate level of fitness, a program which includes 20 mins of fitness program for 3-4 days a week is suggested.
· If you are passionate about building some quality muscles and possessing some well toned and defined muscles, a program which includes 20-30 mins of cardio on 3 days a week can prove to give enhanced results.
. Your training can be clubbed under overtraining and yield you more adverse effects than being fruitful ,if your endurance training exceeds 40-50 mins a day.if your intensity exceeds anaerobic threshold i,e if you feel intense pain in the working muscles, which is due to lactic acid accumulation.
· A correct and a well planned cardio workout can prove to give us manifold benefits which are listed below:

- Burn the storage fat efficiently and boost our metabolic rate.
- Give us a well-defined physique by mobilizing our subcutaneous fat.
- Improve on the efficiency of our cardiac muscle-heart
- Lower cholesterol and increase HDL in the blood.
- Increase the capillary extraction and thereby increase the blood flow to the muscles, which in turn helps us to build them by providing nutrition.
- Improve the exercise tolerance, lung capacity and oxygen consumption which aids in overall stamina.


10 EFFECTIVE STEPS TO LOSE WEIGHT

1. Get a good balanced diet plan from an expert nutritionist, to shred your excess flab.
2. Eat a heavy breakfast, do not have 3 staple meals, split the portion into 6 meals a day, this will increase your metabolic rate.
3. It is 60% diet and only 40 % exercise to loose weight
4. Exercise like walking and swimming which uses the bigger muscle group is only popularly known as cardio, these exercises will increase the endurance of your cardiovascular system and burn the excess calories, but will boost your metabolic rate only for a limited time.
5. Only strength training which builds lean mass, will boost your metabolic rate, because muscle is the only active tissue which demands energy. To build muscle you must eat sufficient protein because amino acids are the building blocks of muscles.
6. Use light weights and work all the major muscles of the body, such as lats, pecs, deltoids, biceps, triceps, q’ceps hamstring and calf.
7. If you don’t have weights , try 10 pull ups in your house, 15 push ups, use heavy books and work your shoulder, biceps and triceps, for the lower body do 20 squats and 20 lunges, do calf raises near the wall- google up the terms, you will learn the exercise.
8. Along with this do not neglect your abdominals, instead of starting with crunches start with core exercises- google up the exercise called “iron man or plank” hold it for 2 mins every day and “side stand” do this for 1 min on the left and right side every day, you will have a slimmer waistline. But learn the technique well on the net before trying it.
9. Eat a heavy breakfast and a lightest dinner, also make the dinner early. Try sticking to low calorie, fiber rich foods, than refined sugars and junk. “Moderation is the key to loose weight”.
10 Do walking or swimming 30 mins everyday apart from the strength training program.

A complete workout tip-read to know more.......

Exercise is become, no lay-man's term nowadays, everybody is exercising and everybody wants to be fit. But the lag arises only if we rationalize, whether our exercise regime is complete. A close scrutiny into your daily exercise protocol will absolutely reveal whether your workout is complete. Check, whether your routine includes, warm up, stretches, proprioception and balance training, core and abdominal exercises ,cardio, strength training and a cool down . Let's demarcate between a normal individual, whose been walking regularly over the past few years and a regular gym freak, whose been trained by a certified fitness professional. The regular contemporary walker has addressed only the cardiovascular component of fitness, whereas his flexibility, muscular strength and other components lacks training. It can be said, very precisely that even his cardiovascular endurance component is not trained to the required intensity, because over the years, walking at a constant intensity would have created a plateau and thereby no progress can be expected in his endurance level. Now the logical reasoning arises, then what is cardio? , and how do I build my endurance without a plateau?. In simple terms, any exercise which , works the large muscle groups rhythmically, for a sustained period of time, which demands blood supply, thereby increasing the efficiency of the heart is called cardio workout. eg: It could be just walking, swimming , jogging or aerobic dancing. About doing the apt intensity of cardio workout.Fitness experts recommend giving all the machines a try to find the ones that best fit your body, comfort level and fitness goals. Find which machine or activity is most enjoyable for you.Then, master that equipment and develop consistency to reap the benefits of an endurance activity through it.Endurance exercises increases your efficiency of the heart, burns up your excess storage fat ,uses up your calories for the activity and increases your exercise tolerance.Thus an appropriate intensity of cardio ,will gain you more benefits than you can imagine. Along with cardio, a sufficient quantity of strength training is also demanded for maximum benefits.Strength training can increase your lean body mass and thereby aid in boosting your metabolic rate.Muscle is the only active tissue in your body which demands fuel.Strength training can, not only provide you a well-scuplted ,toned physique,but also present you ,an incredible way of burning your fat easily.A tailor-made flexibility regime can add a lot of flavour to your program along with some proprioceptive and balance exercises ,which can make your workout protocol complete." As you age ,every decade of our life we tend to loose 10% of our flexibility, by including a regular flexibility program in our shedule ,we can make us more supple and flexible ,and retain our youth. "Core exercises" ,these are execises which will work your abdominal,pelvic floor and low back musculature. Core is known as the power house of the body , so strengthening your core can make you stronger and more productive in all your daily chores. A well-planned workout regime will definitely comprise of a warm-up and a cool-down phase.Warm-up exercises prepares us both physically and mentally for the entire exercise program, it increases the temperature of the muscles and joints and tempers them for the forthcoming activity,thus helping us to prevent from injuries.Now taking cool-down into consideration it helps in lowering the hype created by exercise in our body ,giving our mind the signal, exercise is over.Your heart rate is gradually lowered during cool down, enabling a more relaxed and comfortable slow down ,thus preventing sudden venous pooling. A similar regime cannot hold good for everybody , thus a customised version with all the above composition varied according to the induvidual's need can be immensely productive. As the phrase goes " exercise is like brushing your teeth",a well-designed workout plan is like,"using the right technique to brush,with the right paste and right tooth-brush at the right time".