Monday, November 3, 2008

3 Steps to Winning the Battle of the Bulge

By Roland du Preez

Most people that are trying to lose weight will go about it the wrong way. Let your body work with you, instead of against you. A starvation diet will turn your body against you, and will mess up your metabolism.

You can lose weight in a natural way, with quick results.

Tip #1 Changing Your Cooking Habits

A lot of times, how we cook has a lot to do with how much weight we keep on us. Keeping your food healthy for you and lower in calories has a lot to do in your preparation of it.

If you fry your food in fats and oils, you need to stop right now! This will increase the amount of calories, and it's unnecessary. Use a non-stick pan instead, without adding any oil. If you really need to add a little bit of oil, use Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It's the healthier choice, lower in cholesterol and better for you heart.

Always remember that baking your food is better. If you can broil your steaks and chicken is even better than baking. Try to boil or steam some of your food and vegetables, as this will keep more nutrients intact, and it tastes better.

Tip #2 Eating the Food

Savour the food, relish each morsel of it and don't wolf it down. Eating used to be a time when each meal was ritualistic. We would sit around the dinner table and talk about our day with family members and eat slowly. So, what happened? Everyone is in such a rush now!

By eating slower you will give your body a chance to feel full. That's just how it is. Your saliva will have a chance to kick in if you eat slower, and this will help your digestive system. You will lose weight from eating slower.

No 3. Exercising = Lose Weight

Sure, if do nothing else but run 20 miles every day you would be able to eat anything you wanted to. But, you might also drop dear from a stroke or heart attack. To lose weight in a healthy way you need to find a balance between exercising correctly and eating right. They go together like bacon and eggs, excuse the pun.

The right exercise is important to burning calories and staying healthy. Aerobic exercise is what we would want to target to melt off the pounds.

Exercises that gets your heart rate up, such as running, dancing or cycling, are examples of aerobic workouts. Your metabolism will get kicked into a higher gear, and your calories will fly off.

Have a routine of aerobic exercise for at least 30 minutes per session will boost your metabolism, and keep it going for the rest of that day. You will see some magic happen if you combine your healthy diet with aerobics 4 times a week. Your fat cells will come flying off. The longer you exercise the more calories you will burn.

A. Remember: If you haven't been exercising lately, you need to ease your body into it. Start with shorter sessions, and add on time as you go along. This will help prevent injuries.

B. Treadmills, rowing machines or stationary bikes are used by many. Some will install Olympic sized pools in the backyards. If you can't afford all that, don't worry. You don't need any expensive equipment to do aerobic workout sessions.

If you enjoy swimming, depending on where you live, many communities have swimming pools you can use for either a fee or free.

Part 1 and 2 of this series includes a lot of tips how to lose weight and keep it off. You are the only one that can implement these life style changes in your own life. You will have huge benefits. You will lose weight, be more energetic, feel better and probably even live longer.

If any of the malls close to you open up early, you can use the area for power walking. By being a bit creative you will soon find that there are many ways to workout with aerobics without costing you an arm or a leg. - 16004

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