I live for fitness and a healthy lifestyle. I’m into all the new trends in sports, exercising and healthy eating. As you know, healthy eating and exercise are interdependent, one cannot co-exist without the other. Whatever sport or type of exercise you do, and your goal is to lose weight then what you put in your mouth is critical.

This week couldn’t pass without having a say on the recent scandal about traces of plastic found in the Lean Cuisine packaged foods. Nothing ‘lean’ about it. Nestle is recalling 879,565 pounds of Lean Cuisine brand frozen dinners containing chicken since they may contain shards of hard plastic. Since each meal weighs less than one pound, this adds up to millions of dinners.

The affected products include: Lean Cuisine Pesto Chicken with Bow Tie Pasta; Lean Cuisine Chicken Mediterranean; Lean Cuisine Chicken Tuscan.

I don’t believe in crazy diets or processed foods. I like all things natural. However, from experience I heavily do not endorse relying on these foods to lose weight. Once you’re off them, unfortunately, the weight you’ve lost comes back. And it will haunt you.

Say no to packaged food delivered to your door. Aim for a natural diet based on fresh unprocessed food, vegetables, fruits, grains and protein, with off course the regular exercise.

Besides why would you want chicken that tastes like rubber?
Go ahead make the right decision. Say yes to healthy eating, exercising and maintaining a long life.

Trying to lose weight and keeping fit is not an easy task. For some it’s more complicated and tiring process than others. With work, family and even college study commitments people are finding hard makng time to exercise. Sometimes you need that extra push, from someone, either your friends or family who share your same fitness goals or your purse, yes, the money you will have to invest to get the results you want.

These type of investments can rage from joining the gym, dance classes, hiring a personal trainer, weight loss massages and treatments, and even plastic surgery (liposuction, among other suctions to your body parts you’re not happy with).

Usually your first option is the gym. The gym memberships pushes you to go to the classes regularly because you’re paying for it. It hurts when you pay significant amounts of money to keep your membership running and never go! Months go by and you’re not taking advantage!

Gyms today, are so versatile, with many aerobic classes ranging from boxing, salsa to bodypump for those who enjoy different types of workouts, fully equipped rooms for weight exercising, yoga and pilates equipment and classes, swimming pools, and great social atmosphere. In two words, ‘great lifestyle’. Gyms are catering for different age demographics to suit their needs, making the gym experience fun and worthwhile.

On the other hand there are people who don’t like the gym, they find it boring and can’t be bothered to go. This was my idea of the gym until gym chains converted into a social club, taking the exhausting perception of the gym into quick, fast and fun.

There are many gym chains offering affordable monthly price fees, with great benefits and gifts. Some can be labeled as scammy, but the question is ‘who to choose?’

Over the past years, I’ve seen the show ‘The Biggest Loser, the NBC reality show, which has featured 12 overweight contestants competing to lose weight over several months. I was so intrigued about how they use the 24 hour Fitness Gym to shed of the pounds.

The classes offered by 24 Hour Fitness Gym gave great results for the contestants. Can you imagine that they are also available for you. You don’t have to be a celebrity or contestant to join.
24 Hour fitness has 100,000+ Square Feet Amenities including cardio equipment, weights, group X room, kid’s club, basketball courts, pools, tanning services, executive lockers, massage services, racquetball club, rock climbing and volleyball.

Try it for yourself and let me know how you went!

It’s sometimes hard to get motivated to change your body. It’s not easy, it requires motivation, discipline and consistency. So it’s worthwhile trying something different, something new always helps.
So you’re over the gym, you’re over all the other types of exercises. Why don’t you try circuit training.

Circuit training works well for developing strength, endurance (both aerobic and anaerobic), flexibility and coordination.

Yeah, so it’s not that common, and you may require some people to practice it with, but it’s so worthwhile. It’s a preferred sport of the general public right to elite athletes.

Circuit training has helped men and women loose weight and help develop a solid base of fitness and prepare the body for more stressful subsequent training.

A well-designed circuit can help to correct the imbalances that occur in any sport played to a high level. It can also be one of the best types of training for improving strength endurance.

Circuit training is great for general fitness and caters for a wide variety of fitness levels.

Circuit training in itself is not a form of exercise rather an exercise session that’s structured in routines that can be developed purely for strength development or for improving endurance.

Circuit classes consist of about ten exercises stations completed for 60 seconds in sequence with 30-60 seconds rest between. Well I guess you never know until you try it. I highly recommend it instead of hitting the gym!

One of the best ways to exercise is to run. Yes, doesn’t sound that exciting but it’s so affordable. Let’s see, how you go. Running can help you improve your stamina, reduce stress and burn calories. So get ready to hit the grounds, tuck the tummy in and run! So how do you get started and motivated, here are some few tips:
Set Goals

Why do you want to run? Burn fat, loose weight, build your stamina or improve your fitness?
As a first timer, aim for a 5km run and after reaching that goal move on to a 10-kilometer run and so on.” People are more likely to stick to short goals to keep motivated in the long run.
Get Good Equipment

Update your trainers if they’re more than two years old. It’s important you have good quality shoes, you don’t want to risk harming yourself or feeling uncomfortable that can lead you to quit.
Equip with Music

Don’t look at your watch while you’re running. Get your favorite music going to keep you pumped during the jog. Never leave the house without music.
Get a Running Mate

You can run with a mate, a group or personal trainer, running with someone gives you greater motivation and commitment. Some people need extra motivation and company so don’t be afraid to ask your friends.
Burning fat

Interval training has been proven by researchers to burn three-and-a-half times more kilojoules than an even-paced run. Try jogging for two minutes, followed by a 10 second one off and repeat 10-15 times depending on your fitness level.
You can also stick to long runs (more than 30 minutes) at 60-75 percent heart rate capacity. The more intense heart rate the more fat you burn.
Keep Up The Motivation

Alternate routes, run in different directions at different speeds and add hills to keep it interesting.
You can also combine short runs with weight training and strength work and adding interval training and sprints to continually shock your body.

What’s the best ground for you?
Expert trainers say that treadmills and grass are ideal to run on, as they impact on your body the least, reducing injury risk. So opt for the nice green grass or hit the gym. Just choose one.

Carbohydrate (meaning carbon plus water) is the most widely eaten food in the world. Carbs are an essential nutrient and are easily converted to energy by the body. Glucose for example, is the simplest carbohydrate, an essential fuel for the brain. Any healthy eating plan must include carbohydrates. T

Though, bear in mind that there are good and bad carbs. The bad carbs are less nutritious and less refined. It’s common to eat between 40 and 60 percent of your calories in the form of carbs. The more natural and unrefined the carb-food, the healthier it is. Also, look for carbs that have lower glycemic index (GI) value, as they will keep you full for longer. The Glycemic Index (GI) is a relatively new classification of carbohydrates based on their immediate effect on our blood glucose (blood sugar) levels. Carbs that are converted to glucose very fast have a high GI value. Carbs that metabolize slowly, releasing glucose gradually into the blood stream have a low GI value.

Fruit & Vegetables

All fruit and vegetables contain carbs and calories. It’s important you do not exclude this type of carbs because they’re packed with nutrients like vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber. This means they are a healthy addition to any diet, especially if you’re trying to lose weight.

Whole Grains

The starchy carbohydrates, pasta, rice and noodles are your body’s main source of energy. All these foods begin life as a grain, such as wheat, rye, corn, rice or barley. Though, people tend to either over indulge in these, or choose the unrefined whole grain versions of these foods over refined versions. Unrefined carbohydrates contain fewer calories because they contain the whole grain, including the bran and the germ, they’re higher in fiber and keep you feeling fuller for longer. Try basmati or brown rice, wholegrain bread, porridge oats, and whole-wheat pasta.

Potatoes

Potatoes are fat-free healthy foods that provide useful amounts of vitamin C, potassium and fiber. Their high GI value can be reduced by eating them with other low-GI foods as part of the same meal. New white potatoes (fresh or canned) are better choices, with sweet potatoes being best of all.
You are encouraged to try a low-carb diet however, for long term health you should avoid the very-low-carb weight loss plans except for very short periods of time. The USDA’s food pyramid is a practical guide to choose your high-carb foods. It shows 6 to 11 daily servings of grains, 2 to 4 servings of fruit, 3 to 5 servings of vegetables, and 2 to 3 servings of dairy products (along with small amounts of protein).

The consumption of a certain quantity of calories varies according to each person’s weight, metabolism, and age. So, really there’s no predetermined number of calories you should intake to shed, maintain, or gain weight. A simple formula will help you to find out your metabolic rate (BMR). The BMR is how much energy your body needs to function. Studies show that around 60 percent of the calories that we consume daily are used for basic bodily functions.

For women the formula you use to calculate your BMR is:
655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)

For men the formula is as following:
66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

You then need to calculate your level of activity. An inactive person would use their BMR x 20 percent. A lightly active person would use their BMR x 30 percent. A moderately active person would use their BMR x 40 percent and a very active person would use their BMR x 50 percent.

Then you add this number to your BMR. The result is the number of calories you can eat every day and maintain your weight. For losing weight, you will need to eat fewer calories than the result number. A person usually cannot eat less than 1200 calories per day without medical advice. Your best bet is to calculate your BMR and the do the adding of calorie intake for your best knowledge. Find out your BMR and other health calculations by using online health tools at http://www.allthe-health.com/health-nutrition-vision-tools/index.php. Remember to always consult your medical practitioner.

Each items of food has calories but not all of them have equal value. Carbohydrates and proteins have about four calories per gram while all fats, including good fats, are around nine calories per gram. Keep your intake of bad fats such as saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol as low as possible as they raise the bad cholesterol in your body. Alcohol also provides calories and with few nutrients. Remember to limit food and drinks that are high in added sugars because they are higher in calories.

If you eat more abundant healthy foods your calorie intake decreases but be aware that you don’t increase your portions sizes, even if they’re not fat calories, it will not really aid weight loss. So, as well as looking for the amount of calories that the food contains, check out the serving size. Make sure you eat only a single serving, sometimes packaged foods contain two or more servings so always read the label. Save your figure from a lot of extra calories. Labels are crucial to determine how far you eat and they become really useful if you’re serious about keeping an ideal weight or shedding some kilos.
Here are some tips to have a balanced calorie intake:

• Eliminate all junk food.
• Eat fruits alone and on an empty stomach.
• Eat protein fats with veggies (raw or cooked)
• Keep protein fats separate from carbs.
• Eat carbs with veggies.
• Wait three hours between meals if switching from a protein fats meal to a carbs meal, or vice versa

If you’re a focused and determined person, it’s possible to lose fat, build muscle and get fit fast. Here are 5 things that will help you to get the body of your dreams:
1) Eat natural foods. Eating whole foods that are natural will help you to lose weight. This means you need to avoid greasy fast food meals, sugary soft drinks and desserts, and anything with artificial additives. When you’re hungry, try and eat fruit, vegetables and seafood as much as you can. Good fats can be found in nuts, olive oil and avocados.
2) Use weights. Strength training is something that’s important for everyone. By using weights, you can develop your muscles and can achieve a “toned” look. The weight training that you do should depend on what your personal goals are. You should do weight training at least twice a week and should make sure to constantly push yourself to do more reps and lift more.
3) Increase your energy levels. Getting a healthy night’s sleep is vital for fitness. Sleep gives you energy and without high energy levels, you won’t be able to do the things you need to do to get fit quickly. In order to increase your energy levels, you should aim for 7 or 8 hours sleep, drink plenty of water and avoid alcohol whenever you can.
4) Do cardio training a few times per week. If you want to lose fat and change your body, you need to be doing some cardio exercises. Going for a run, riding a bike or taking a walk are some of the best ways to lose body fat fast. These kinds of exercises are effective because they burn calories and produce powerful metabolic and hormonal changes in the body.
5) Have healthy snacks throughout the day. Most people lose sight of their fitness goals because of hunger. However, just because you’re hungry, doesn’t mean you need to eat and gain weight. Instead, you should eat a small, high-protein snack every few hours to get rid of your hunger. This could include anything from a protein shake to nuts and seeds.
As you can see, there are proven methods for losing fat, building muscle and getting fit. You could start your own fitness agenda today and see results within weeks!