Natural weight loss is popular subject these days among the thousands of people who are desperately searching for ways to lose unwanted fat.

Frequently the term natural weight loss refers to pills and diet supplements, but genuine natural weight loss is the predictable result that happens when you alter what you eat, how and when you move, and how you think.

Though natural weight loss is always the best method, check with your doctor as he may recommend medications that can help you take off the pounds. You may have a medical condition that prevents you from natural weight loss, and only he can diagnose it.

Many companies and individuals want you to believe that natural weight loss is difficult to achieve but in the end it’s just a case of not eating as much, and having enough regular exercise; however, most ignore this recommendation.

In a nutshell, natural weight loss can be simply described as eating foods that are low in calories from fat or sugar and high in fiber, along with regular exercise. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

There are a multitude of exercises that you can do for weight lifting but I think that the most important thing that you can do is to concentrate on your core bodyparts and try to get exercises that will work those parts the best.

First thing to know when choosing the best weight exercises is to understand the difference between simple and compound exercises. A simple exercise is one in which only one muscle group is used, biceps curls for example. A compound exercise is one where you are working more than one muscle group. An example of a compound exercise is bench presses which work the chest for sure but are also being assisted by the shoulders and triceps.

Why do you want to worry about the simple and compound exercises? Mostly because using compound exercises will be exercises that will build body mass more quickly than simple exercises because you are working multiple muscle groups at the same time. Read the rest of this entry »

ChicagoHealers.com Practitioner Dr. Tom Bayne offers these preventative measures for staying health while traveling:

• Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of water especially while flying to keep your immune system strong.  Water helps keep mucous membranes moist enough to combat the viruses they encounter.  Dry mucus membranes are a breeding ground for infection
• Say no to dessert: Sugar decreases immune response and provides an environment in the body where infection can thrive.  When white blood cells are exposed to high levels of sugar in the bloodstream, they have a decreased ability to fight infections.
• Sleep it off: For many people vacation is a lot of visiting and doing, and not much different from the stress of their normal life.  Plan things for later in the day and sleep in a little.  Get to bed before midnight.
• Stock up on your D: Vitamin D is necessary for your body to mount a defense against viruses.  The dark winter months keep our body’s covered and inside most of the time.  Unable to process Vitamin D from the sun our body loses the ability to fight viruses when we come in contact with them.
• Go easy on the holiday cheer: A glass of wine or two can be very positive to your immune health, but many days of heavy alcohol consumption can leave your body fatigued, toxic, and susceptible to infection.  When it comes to booze a little really can go a long way, in keeping you healthy.

First I want to start this post out by saying that I think that it is really important for everyone to get an H1N1 shot. The vaccination advantages easily outweight the risks of getting the flu itself.

But we ran into some scary trouble yesterday.

My daughter recently got diagnosed with Asthma and so here in Canada she is treated as someone that is high risk for H1N1 and was able to get a vaccination yesterday. All went well with the shot and they kept her for 15 minutes at the clinic to watch for any adverse reactions but there were none so my wife, son and her left.

About 30 minutes after getting the shot my daughter started getting all tingly and shaky. She was scared, wide eyed and pale and my wife got just a little hysterical and called the medical helpline, they asked questions and then had us call 911. Read the rest of this entry »

As I mentioned last week a couple of times I have been fighting with a bit of a cough and some trouble breathing. I had suffered away for a few days until my wife heard about something called Oil of Oregano.

Oregano oil is apparently quite popular as a natural antibiotic and Also as an antiviral. This means that it should help you better fight ‘bugs’ that you get. I had not heard of this essential oil previously and within 10 minutes my wife had me at the health food store and for $33.99 we bought a bottle of oil of oregano.

Why take oil of oregano?

What is oil of oregano good for? Well the initial reason that we bought it was to get rid of a sore throat that my wife and I both had and it seemed to work for that but there are many other reasons to try oil of oregano. Here they are: Read the rest of this entry »

Rodale, a health and wellness company had this great article on how the WII could get you in better shape. No surprise here but just as any other kind of exercise it comes down to intensity and consistency.

Computers make it easier to do lots of things without having to leave the house—like shopping, bill-paying, renting movies and now, with the advent of Wii Fit, going running on a tropical island. But a new study illustrates that as fun as it is, a Wii Fit exercise session may not be the workout you think it is.

Wii Fit is a software and hardware combo for Nintendo’s Wii video game system that enables users to perform fitness moves and activities on a small white balance board similar to a household body-weight scale. Read the rest of this entry »

When should I start working out again after cold or flu?

I got back to the gym this morning after being off for a couple of weeks due to a flu. It was an OK workout.

Anyway, often when we get sick we are not sure when to start back exercising and working out. I know that I have been through this just through laziness in the past but this past Friday I was itching to get back to the gym and it bothered me a lot that I did not have the energy or health to workout.

Finally this morning I went to the gym again.

So when are you ready? I think that the question can only be answered by deciding what you want to do in the gym and what your transition will be to hard workouts.

In retrospect I think I may have been able to go back to the gym yesterday and for this reason I am pushing my wife to get back today even though she feels crappy. Today I actually had a very full and tough workout but I would have liked to have gone earlier without a need to break a sweat, just get a chance to move your muscles and stretch. The one thing I hate most about being sick is the inactivity and the crappy feeling that I have in my muscles. Read the rest of this entry »

A lasting trend is developing in health and fitness, according to an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) survey published in the November/December issue of ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal_®. The importance of experienced and educated fitness professionals remains the top predicted fitness trend for the third straight year.

The survey, now in its fourth year, was distributed to ACSM certified health and fitness professionals worldwide and was designed to reveal trends in various fitness environments. Nearly 1,500 completed surveys were received from respondents around the world. Thirty-seven potential trends were given as choices, with the top 20 ranked and published by ACSM.

Consistent with 2009 results, the elevated importance of experienced and educated fitness professionals was identified as the top trend of 2010, likely due to increased industry regulation and an influx of specialty certifications and educational programs available for these professionals. This trend has moved up the list since the survey’s inception in 2007, when it ranked third. Read the rest of this entry »

I sometimes think I should be kept away from TV. A few weeks back I saw a bit of a show called Suppersize vs Superskinny and the name itself intrigued me enough to click and watch for a few minutes. I did not really get it but a couple of nights ago I saw that it was on as I was about to fall asleep so I ended up watching the episode.

How does Supersize vs Superskinny work?

The premise behind Supersize vs Superskinny is to have a couple of people that look radically different, one is very overweight and one is very underweight, to trade diets for a week. Not only is the whole show interesting, intriguing and fun to watch but it is filmed in Britain so you get accents and strange weights (how heavy is 33 stone 4?) as well as lots of body shapes (actually there are 14 pounds to a stone). Read the rest of this entry »

Tom Venuto just sent me this info as part of a Q and A on how to avoid a metabolic slowdown. As you probably know, if you diet to hard or do not exercise while dieting your metabolism will slow down and make it much more difficult to lose weight.

Here is Tom from Burn the Fat Feed the Muscles response to this problem of metabolic slowdown that many dieters have.

QUESTION: Tom, Is it possible to not lose body fat because you’re eating too little?
-Linda

ANSWER: Yes and no. This gets a little complicated so let me explain both sides.

Part one of my answer: I say NO, because if you are in a calorie deficit you WILL lose weight.

Most people have heard anecdotes of the dieter who claims to be eating 800 calories a day or some starvation diet level of intake that is clearly in a deficit and yet is not losing fat. Like the mythical unicorn, such an animal does not exist. Read the rest of this entry »