Yoga is not he highest calorie burning activity you can engage in, but it has many benefits, such as adding to your strength and flexibility.

 Even more important, it gets you out of the house to attend classes, and is invaluable ‘me’ time to focus on your goals and self-improvement.

 It strengthens the link between mind and body, and helps make you more mindful of what you eat.

 It also gives you energy, and improves the immune and digestive systems. It also improves circulation.

 Certain postures (asanas) can have particular healing effects upon the body.

 In order to get started, why not visit:

http://www.yogajournal.com

and also try a local class, or Namaste Yoga, All Star Worksouts, and Guru2Go, three programs with yoga workouts available on CableTV on the Fit TV Channel.

 Namaste Yoga http://fittv.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=56.14605.111858.28974.2

Guru2Go

http://fittv.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=56.14653.110076.27984.7

 All Star Workouts

http://fittv.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=56.14229.116392.30264.10 

Boost your activity level each day, and you’ll be burning calories and getting lean and trim in no time.

Many men and women are interested in getting fit, but don’t know where to start. Or, they start, but don’t keep it up because they get bored or feel like it’s a lot of hard work.

But you can get into the mood and the move in a lot of different ways that don’t involve hours on a treadmill or stairclimber, or spending a fortune on gym membership or equipment.

The most important way to stay fit and lose weight is to stay on the move. It takes 2000 calories to put on a pound, but 3000 to burn one off.

But exercise does not have to be a chore, or something you need to set aside hours for. The good news is that even 10 minutes a day can help—and new research has also shown that 4 sessions of 10 minutes a day is actually better for you than 40 minutes of sustained exercise.

Not only does it help you stay physically fit and trim, exercise also enhances your mood. Often you can even meet a lot of great like-minded people who will encourage you to stay fit.

The easiest way to exercise is the 10,000 steps a day rule. You can get an inexpensive pedometer to help keep you on track. Walking is a tremendous way of staying in shape for many men and women. You can gradually begin walking more with each passing day. In time, you can build up to the 10,000 step a day level.

You can also carry two water bottles and/orswing your arms more vigorously, to burn even more calories. Walking up hill or up stairs can also increase the impact of the workout and the number of calories burned.

Walking to the store instead of taking the car, or, not grabbing the first parking spot, but actually parking further away from the store entrance, can all help you meet your 10000 step goal.

Taking the stairs instead of the elevator, both up and down counts. Stepping from side to side while you wait for a bus or train works too, and actually exercises another set of helpful muscles. To increase your heart rate when walking, take smaller, more numerous strides per minute instead of longer, fewer ones.

A dog is also a great way to keep fit, and he is a mood booster too. Just remember, a puppy is a 15 year marriage commitment, til death do you part, usually its death. At the same time, though, there are tens of thousands of dogs looking for a home at www.petfinder.org if you feel that a canine pal will help keep you on track with your fitness goals.

Other daily activities which you can include would be golfing, especially if you carry your own clubs, and gardening.

Swimming is another huge calorie burner with low impact on your joints, something to consider if you are trying to lose weight without stress and strain to yourself or your joints. But you can’t do it literally anywhere (even in a plane!) the way you can with walking.

The worst exercise is none at all, so look at your daily schedule and try to see where you can add a few steps here and there to get your 10,000 every day. Every step counts on your path to better fitness.

In an earlier article we gave you some handy healthy eating tips. Here we are going to give you some advice about how to stay active to help keep slim and trim.

Everyone worries about getting proper nutrition, but in this hectic-paced world we live in, where fast food abounds, actually eating right can be a very challenging task.

 The lifestyle of an average American is crammed with chores, which makes us cram goodness knows what into our mouths. Between juggling work, family, and outside commitments, people have come to believe that they have no time for cooking or healthy eating.

 Creating a nutritious meal for the family when you are all on the run is challenging enough. Trying to balance your  daily nutrition requirements can be even harder. Add to that special diets, like vegetarian, vegan, or lactose intolerant, for example, and you can have a nightmare on your hands.

Fortunately, MyPyramid is here to help, at http://www.mypyramid.gov

 The FDA has put up resources to help you calculate your daily requirements, and the best sources for each, so you can make every meal, and even every mouthful, count. And customize it for all your family members as well if you are cooking or planning meals for more than one.

 One size does not fit all when it comes to food and nutrition, which is why the have designed these interactive tools.  MyPyramid Plan offers you a personal eating plan with the foods and amounts that are right for you. You can get started with the MyPyramid Plan quickly and easily at the site.

MyPyramid Tracker offers a detailed assessment of your food intake and physical activity level. You can also use the advice “Inside the Pyramid” section to help you

• Make smart choices from every food group.
• Find your balance between food and physical activity/exercise
• Get the most nutrition out of your calories.
• Stay within your daily calorie needs to maintain weight or even lose weight.

There are a few limitations to the site that you need to be aware of.  MyPyramid food patterns are designed for the general public ages 2 and over.

 They are not therapeutic diets for specific health conditions. Those with a chronic health condition should always  consult with a health care provider to find a dietary plan that is right for them, particularly for conditions like diabetes.

 But MyPyramid is a quick easy way to start thinking a bit more about sound nutrition and educating yourself about what you can eat each day for maximum nutrition.

A lot of people turn to vitamins and supplements, but ideally you should be able to get balanced nutrition from the food you eat. 

The useful sample menus should get you started with a nutritional eating lifestyle you can sustain both short and  long term without driving yourself crazy or taking too long cooking and shopping. So you can have more time to sit down, eat, and savor!

Healthy Eating at the Holidays?  It almost seems like a contradiction in terms, doesn’t it?

But if you eat well all year round, you are much less likely to feel like a locust devouring everything in sight. Sure, you can have a seasonal treat or two, but there is no need to go for seconds. Or thirds and fourths!

 The trouble with the holidays is that they seem to get longer every year, with a stretch of indulgence that extends from the candy at Halloween, through the turkey with all the fixin’s at Thanksgiving, to Christmas, and right on to New Year’s (and possibly even Valentine’s Day if we aren’t careful!!)

In our offices, there are snacks and treats galore, all within easy reach, adding hundred of extra calories to our diet before we even know we’ve swallowed. Of course we love spending time with our friends, but food and drink become even more of a center of attention than the usual lunches, brunches and dinners.

There are many ways you can control your calorie intake at the holidays. Get a hot air popper (the microwave pop corn is getting very bad press these days), pop your corn, and add a bit of butter spray to it if you are eating it then and there. You can also pop extra, don’t butter it, and bring it to work in a plastic container. If you feel like having hot pop corn, you can give it a few seconds in the microwave, and presto, you have a hot snack without a ton of oil, artifical flavor, or chemicals.

Other good choices would be carrot and celery sticks, apple, raisins, to stop you from reaching for the cookie tin or the bowl of nachos and guacamole just waiting to be devoured.

In particular, watch out for the empty calories in alcohol and desserts during the holiday season. They have NO nutritional value, and are NOT a couple of new essential food groups. They also make you binge eat, alcohol in particular giving you the munchies.

Vegetables are essential every day, but beware of the hidden calories in mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, and any veggies swimming in butter or cheese sauce. The same can be said of seafood and fish.

Also off the menu would be cream-based soups, and anything with a cream sauce on it. We are not only talking calories here, we are talking high in saturated fats. The same is true of nuts. If you are having poultry, avoid the dark meat.

Dairy is also essential, but try not to go for full fat if you have any control over the menu. Also, remember, the softer the cheese, the more fat!

If you are cooking for the holidays yourself, you will have a lot more control. If you are at your own home, this will be easy.   Plan a menu with lots of well-seasoned dishes. A little seasoning can go a long way toward curbing cravings. Try not to taste everything in sight, and do start with soup and salad so that you will already be pretty full before you ever get to the main event.

Beware of the dreaded leftovers as well, which can extend one day of indulgence into several. Send a little care package home with your guests, or freeze them into small tasty lunch sized homemade TV dinners.

If you are going out for the holiday, eat before you go. Again, soup and salad are excellent choices for making you feel full and satisfied. Be polite, but don’t load your plate. Or, offer to bring a dish you know you have made yourself that is not swimming in high-fat ingredients.

Also, if you are at a buffet, either take a small plate, or load it with salad or veggies first, then the more caloric foods. Make sure you load up on good lean protein if it is available, but again, no sauces or dark meat.

Avoid the dreaded dessert if possible, and beware of eggnog. If you do have to indulge, you and a friend might ‘buddy up’ and agree to share, just to keep an eye on one another.

One final check up, remember, it takes only 2000 additional calories to put on a pound, but 3000 to take one off. Do the math as you deal with your holiday meals, and that should keep you on the straight (and slim!) and narrow even with temptation coming at you from all sides.

Happy Holidays!

Today, many men and women (and children) around the globe, but particularly in America, are significantly overweight. As a result, a growing number of people find themselves starting different diet programs all the time, going from fad diet after fad diet, hoping for some sort of miracle for them being overweight.

Unfortunately, most people who embark on a diet plan fail to lose weight. Or, even if they lose, it often not only creeps right back on, but in many cases, it rebounds back again, so that they end up even heavier than they were before they started attempting to diet.

Dieting can cause you to put on weight because you are playing with your metabolism in a potentially dangerous way.

Many of the fad diets being promoted are hazardous to a person’s health. While you may lose weight at the outset on one of these diet plans or programs, many of these plans are NOT designed to promote a healthy and balanced eating lifestyle which you can sustain LONG-TERM in order to keep the weight off.

In the final analysis, when it comes to healthy living and reaching and maintaining an appropriate weight, the only true course of action in which you can follow is a balanced diet and exercise, and those are not things that you can get out of a pill bottle or a box.

And just think about it, with the money you are spending on so-called diet pills, which are NOT cheap, you could be buying basketfuls of good, healthy fruits, veggies and proteins. Some supplements on the TV sell for as much as $150 PER BOTTLE! You’re be broke, starved, and feel exhausted all at the same time. Do you know how much shrimp, salmon, fish, turkey, you could buy for that kind of money, and actually feel FULL from the protein you are eating?

By eating a balanced diet, you will be able to maintain the energy and nutrition levels needed to keep your body running like a well-fuelled and well-oiled machine.

For those of you who hate counting calories, the facts are sad but true. To gain a pound takes 2000 calories. To LOSE one, takes 3000, because your body stores fat to later be used for energy.

Do the math! Only regular exercise or physical activity is going to help you budge the pudge!

Regular exercise will also help you maintain a healthy, toned and trim body, and a toned body helps you burn more fat, again, because your body is operating efficiently.

Through a balanced diet and regular exercise, you can not only reach your weight goal, you can get the pounds off and keep them off.

These sensible suggestions will help you whittle away at the excess calories you probably don’t even know you’re eating every day. Over time, a few hundred calories shaved off here and there can all add up.

 Remember, most people can really only safely and effectively lose 2 pounds a week, which is 6000 fewer calories over the course of the week.

 So, if you were eating the FDA recommended 2000 calories a day, you would need to drop to 1500 for at least 5 days of the week, plus, if you boost your activity, you can burn even more.

 But let’s start with what you eat. Then we can look at your level of fitness and overall activity to see how much you’re burning.

 
* Look at the size of your dinner plate. Choose a smaller one and don’t pile up the food on it.

 
* Eat small portions of a variety of foods, to eliminate cravings or feeling deprived. That way, you allow yourself more variety in what you eat.

 
* Eat lots of fresh fruit. It has a high-water to calorie ratio, plus fiber to help you feel full.

 

* If you’re craving a sweet chewy snack, opt for a healthier alternative like prunes, apricots, or other dried fruits.

 

* Don’t punish yourself for “naughty foods”. there Should be no such thing. Instead, make a deal with yourself, like “I can eat whatever I want so long as I have a non-creamy soup and salad with low fat non-creamy dressing first.” Those two items will fill you up and stop you from over-indulging. (cream adds tons of calories from fat, so it’s best to avoid it!)

 

* Remember your ratio!

2000 calories 1 pound gained

3000 calories, 1 pound lost

Do the math to help you stay on track

 * Avoid commercial fast-food like the plague. Go for quick and easy recipes at home, and make enough for leftovers for lunch or dinner you can zap in the microwave quickly.

 * Always bring a healthy snack with you to avoid temptation in public places.  Or from getting so hungry that by the time you eat, you are out of control and wolf down your food.

 * Always eat salad and some lean protein before you go out for a party or social occasion like a dinner out in a restaurant. It will stop you binging, and the energy spikes that come with starving and then indulging.

 * Practice eating mindfully. Do not do anything else while eating, like checking email or talking on the phone. Chew your food slowly and savor the taste and flavor of every bite to get the most satisfaction and not be tempted to cram down a whole lot more.

* Fruit juice is a great pick-me-up by itself, or as a spritzer. Cranberry juice is fantastic for relieving cystitis and keeps your bladder in good working order. Just watch the high fructose corn syrup used to sweeten some brands, and juices which are not pure juice. You can get a small bottle of concentrated cranberry juice in health food stores.

 * Keep your toothbrush and mouthwash handy after every meal. Not only will it help keep your mouth fresh, in your medicine cabinet. Not only does mouthwash freshen your breath, food never tastes quite so irresistible before or after you’ve brushed your teeth. Especially that Starbuck’s coffee concoction with the 750 calories and more grams of saturated fat than a Big Mac!

 Little changes can add up to big results!

Losing weight can be a challenge for even the most determined person, especially when you have been starving, feeling deprived, and then all of a sudden, you hit a plateau and don’t see the scale budge for weeks, or worse still, see it go up.

It is NOT easy to lose weight. It is not all about willpower.  Metabolism and genetics as well as lifestyle all play a role in weight loss, but the only one you can control, or try to control, is the latter.

 While the basic equation of weight loss is simple, you have to burn more calories than you consume, the trouble is that a pound gained is NOT equal to a pound lost. It is actually 2000 calories to put on a pound and 3000 to take it off.

 The good news is that by adding a few new weight-conscious measures here and there every day to burn more calories, you can win the battle of the bulge and budge that pudge.

Increase your activity, and decrease your unnecessary calories.  Portion size is key. If you get a bit nibbly, those 100 calorie snack packs can help.

 The most successful dieters keep food journals to track exactly what they eat each day, and when. By becoming aware of your habits, you can see where you ‘lose control’ also where you can whittle down calories without losing out on nutrition. Also, the FDA is recommending a 2000 calorie a day diet, but is that really practical given how many of us lead a sedentary, inactive lifestyle? And it is 2500 for men!

 Once you pinpoint your “hungry” times, you can head them off with healthy snacks like carrot and celery sticks with low fat dressing. Soup is also filling, and we often associate soup and salad with going out to dine and so we can feel really satisfied with a lot less food if we start each lunch and dinner in this way, and make sure to avoid any cream based dressings of soups due to the extra calories from fat.

 Another method is to cut out all beverages other than water. Soda, juice, wine and beer add up to a lot of calories really quickly. They can also create havoc with your appetite, especially alcohol and it often giving people the munchies, or luring them into eating fattening snacks.

 Cutting out high-calorie beverages (including those supposed Vitamin waters that are full of sugar) and replacing them with water or seltzer, or adding seltzer to your juice or wine if you have to have it, make a refreshing spritzer,  will make a major difference to your figure,  while still supplying your body with the hydration it needs throughout the day.

 Liquids will also make you feel fuller faster. Studies also show that milk can help you eat less and lose weight, plus help you metabolize your food better.

 As for changing your activity level, you can take the stairs instead of the elevator, park further away from the stores so you will be forced to walk, and move your feet from side to side when you are waiting for a bus or train.

Gardening, yoga, golfing, can all help you boost your calorie burn, plus, anything that gets you out of the house and away from the fridge is a bonus.

 Also, building lean muscle can help you  speed up your metabolism, because your body will run more efficiently and burn up calories faster as a result.

 You can also work different parts of your body each day, for best results. Try some of the workout programs on Fit TV, yoga, weights, aerobics.

 Or rent the fitness DVDS from Netflix on topics like Abs, legs, and so on. Find the ones you lke and do them in a daily rotation.

 If you incorporate even a few of these changes into your daily routine, you will begin to see those stubborn pounds slowly melt away, and better still, stay away. You will also have more energy and more muscle, leading to a leaner, firmer, more efficient body.