Health Improvement Blog

3 Hour Dieting Posted By : Mick Thomson

November 17, 2008 on 8:00 am | In Uncategorized | Comments Off When it comes to the world of dieting you will find that there are many diet, weight loss, and fitness plans on the market. It takes years for some to become a contender and others remain a best-kept secret of sorts. One such 'best kept' secret would be the 3 Hour Diet that was designed by Jorge Cruise. I am sure that there are many reading along and chuckling under your breath that there is no way one can lose weight by eating every three hours however the science behind the theory is fairly common and Jorge Cruise is a mainstay in the fitness industry.

The long and short of this diet operates with the knowledge that if you do not feed your body accurately and regularly your body will go into what is called 'starvation mode'. In this mode your body holds onto the fat rather than burning it up and consuming it for use. This means that your body is burning muscle rather than fat to take the energy it needs in order to function.

With the 3 Hour Diet you will not feel hungry all the time, in fact, there are many who claim they are constantly setting alarms and reminding themselves to eat. You will also learn the proper foods to eat in order to achieve the best possible results. The key is in learning which foods are right for you when dieting with this plan. You can purchase the book The 3-Hour Diet by Jorge Cruise and you can sign up online for more information about the weight plan itself and how to incorporate it into your busy routine.

I do recommend purchasing the book if you are seriously considering this as your method of dieting as there are many wonderful hints, tips, and tricks that are mentioned in the book to help you keep things going no matter how busy and hectic your lifestyle may be. One thing you need to keep in mind is that dieting with a program such as this is no small commitment. You need to stick to the timetable as much as possible in order to achieve the results this plan is famous for. If you aren't willing to eat every three hours then this plan really may not be the plan for you.

Otherwise, if this is something you would be interested in, I highly recommend it. There are special considerations based on the amount you weight currently and the amount of weight you are hoping to lose. It is best if you are honest throughout the process in order to achieve the best possible and most immediate results. The claim is that you can lose as many as 10 pounds in the first two weeks and there are those that have claimed to do just that over and over again. This is a diet that even many celebrities endorse for quick and immediate results.

The good and the bad about 3 hour dieting is that it is effective but takes a very real commitment on the part of the one that is dieting. This diet is one that is taking the world by storm. If you haven't heard of it before now, please take the time to check it out and see if this is something you could incorporate into your life. The results that have been reported as a result of this diet as nothing short of phenomenal. If there were one diet I would recommend above others for those who hate feeling hungry, it would be this diet.

Is Your Belly Too Fat - Find Out How Big is Too Big Posted By : Dr. Becky Gillaspy

November 15, 2008 on 8:00 am | In Uncategorized | Comments Off You have long been told that excess weight leads to health problems but even more significant to your health is how that fat is distributed on your body.

Researchers who followed 360,000 people for 10 years found that having too much belly fat doubled the person’s risk of dying prematurely.

And this risk increased with belly fat, whether the person was overweight or within a normal weight range.

So how do you know if your belly is too fat and becoming a health risk? The answer can be found not by stepping on the scale but rather by pulling out your measuring tape.

How much you weigh is not as strong of a factor as how big your belly is. To determine if your belly is too fat measure your waist circumference. Simply place a tape measure around your waist at a level one inch above your belly button. A waist measurement of 40 inches in men and 35 inches in women puts you in the higher risk category.

Men and women with waist measurements above 40 and 35 inches respectively have nearly double the risk of premature death as men and women with smaller diameter waists.

Researchers also found that risk increased with every 2-inch increase in waist measurement. And the risk increase was significant with close to a 17% increase in death in men and a 13% increase in women.

With the right combination of diet and exercise along with the right mindset belly fat can be reduced, reducing the risk of premature death. The solution doesn’t have to be hard but you must work to make weight loss fit into your lifestyle. Short-term weight loss programs will not rid your body of the deep belly fat that is called visceral fat. Visceral means organs so this fat is deep and wrapped around your abdominal organs making in more dangerous than other fat found below the skin.

This type of deep belly fat responds best to long-term weight loss; in order to achieve this you must not only change your diet and exercise but also your mindset when it comes to food, eating and moving your body. To do this you need to develop a strong desire to lose weight, believe that long-term weight loss is possible, commit to a plan and be flexible enough to see that plan through. Make sure that you find a weight loss program that addresses your mindset as well as proper eating and exercise advice.

How To Put On The Weight Posted By : Jim DeSantis

November 15, 2008 on 8:00 am | In Uncategorized | Comments Off While many overweight people find it difficult to shed extra pounds, those who are underweight face their own challenges trying to keep each pound and add more. The good news for those trying to gain weight is that adding pounds is easier than losing pounds.

Why is it so tough to gain or lose weight?

When I was under-30, I weighed in at 142 lbs at 5 feet 8 inches. I was pretty lean and could eat everything that wasn't nailed down, withour gaining an ounce! I wanted to gain weight in the worst way but there just was not any information available about how to do it. When I crossed the 30 mark, mysteriously I began to put on weight.

I found out that the culprit was my metabolic rate. Metabolic rate is simply how quickly the body burns calories. My metabolic rate had simply slowed down after I hit the big-three-o.

Your metabolism is responsible for regulating the rate at which your body consumes food or stores food as fat on your body. If you have ever wondered why some people are able to pig out and never gain a pound, or why some people put on several pounds simply by eating normally, the answer is the body's metabolic rate. The more efficiently your metabolism functions, the more efficiently it burns through calories. It follows then, the more you understand how to manipulate your metabolism, the easier it will be to gain weight.

Weight gain can come from eating more rich and tasty fat-laden foods; a decrease in activity level; a subtle change in the rate that your body burns calories. Studies show that even the most inactive people can gain significant health benefits if they accumulate 30 minutes or more of physical activity per day. Whether you are trying to lose weight or gain it, you should understand the important role of physical activity and include it in your lifestyle.

Genetics and other factors affect how your body uses the calories you consume. Still, the only way to gain weight is by taking in more calories than you burn.

In a study of holiday weight gain, people who reported being much more active maintained their weight or even lost weight during the holidays. Those who reported being less active gained the most during this period.

Gaining any more than 1 or 2 pounds a week is unhealthy and means you're putting on way to much fat. So look for a 1 or 2 pound gain at the end of the week. I know that does not sound like much but it works out to gaining 5-8 pounds a month!

So, you want that perfect bod? First, ask your doctor! Do it yourself weight manipulation can cause serious health problems. You knew that, right?

A good approach might be to venture into the bodybuilding community. There you will find many people, like yourself, also seeking ways to put on lean muscle mass (weight). You will also find many products marketed to help you gain weight. Be very cautious when looking at these products. Gaining weight may not be as in demand as losing weight but it is still big business and there are a lot of companies out there looking to take your money. While some of these products can help, others aren't necessary.

The best advice? Always, always, always, ask your doctor before trying to become the next Ms. or Mr. Universe!

Why Fad Diets Are A Danger To Weight Loss Posted By : Henry John

November 15, 2008 on 8:00 am | In Uncategorized | Comments Off There are so many people looking to lose weight quickly that they look to fad diets to get to that point. There are plenty of fad diets available for people to use.

A lot of them, especially the more popular ones, advise people that they can lose a lot of weight in a short period of time. So with that “supposed belief”, they rush out and try it. They feel like it’s the next best thing since sliced bread.

So you gear yourself to lose five pounds in a week. After a few days, if you haven’t lost one pound, you start to freak out. Then, by the end of the week, if we still haven’t reached that five pound threshold, then you’re sadly disappointed.

So, you look for the next big quick fix and try that one. This begins what seems to be a never ending cycle of trying different fad diets until you decide to give up or you’ve tried them all, with no success.

Fad diets focus on losing chunks of weight loss very rapidly. That can be very dangerous for your health. Losing five or even ten pounds in a week is really pushing it. It may sound good to do this, but in reality, it’s not.

You are depriving yourself of vitamins and nutrients that you need to keep your health intact. Believe it or not, these diets are based on creating deficiencies in your body.

Did you know that you could end up binging from these fad diets? That means that you stuff yourself with everything in sight. You deprived yourself of all of the things that you needed to keep your body energized and now you’re paying for it dearly.

Or you may decide to purge, which means you force yourself to throw up everything that you’ve eaten. Either way, it is a dangerous precedent for additional health problems.

However, you can alleviate those problems with the Slim Habit system. You will learn new habits about weight loss. In addition to that, you will learn how to implement those habits so that you will have long-term, permanent weight loss. You don’t want to stick with the fly-by-night schemes that caused your weight to fluctuate.

With this weight loss system, you can learn to eat what you’re supposed to have, and also implement a personal exercise plan for you to act upon. In order for this weight loss system to be successful for you, you must have a mindset that you will focus on the task at hand.

You must be willing and act upon any changes that you need to make. When you implement change, change will happen for you. That includes getting rid of those fad diets that caused you to gain the weight in the first place.

Losing Weight Tips - Are You Ready For Your Weight Loss? Posted By : Nicole Barry

November 15, 2008 on 8:00 am | In Uncategorized | Comments Off 8 of 10 women want to get thin. It’s probably the second most sought-after goal after having access to unlimited funds... Seriously, obesity has become a disease of epidemic proportion mostly due to our sedentary lifestyle and lack of time.

Not too long ago, humans took part in a lot of physical activities such as walking, playing sports and jogging in the park. Nowadays, time restrictions or safety concerns appear to have taken these activities away from us. Our workload, studies, responsibilities and other family concerns seem to compete for our attention and exercise and proper nutrition have been pushed aside. There is no surprise in why the population became fat “all of a sudden”.

If you want to lose weight, you’ll need to make a difficult decision. You’ll have to commit time, willpower and planning in order to change your habits and lose weight. The most important thing to do to lose weight is to adjust your thinking. Here are a few things that you will have to re-learn:

- Plan your meals and stick to your plan. If you can’t plan, limit your options to foods that will help you meet your weight loss goals, not foods that will ruin your goals.

- Enjoy five or six SMALL meals per day, even if your time schedule doesn’t seem to permit it. You’re hungry and you will find a way to make time.

- Get informed. Discover what constitutes healthy foods and learn what a serving size actually is. Most fast-food restaurants serve food in tray-sized containers. Avoid these restaurants or simply throw away half of your meal when you’ve had “a serving worth”.

Obviously, it’s easier to talk about weight loss than to do it. Take it a step at a time but start right now. Don’t procrastinate and don’t wait until tomorrow. Find something that motivates you and get proper guidance if you want to begin an effective weight loss plan. Motivation is the most important factor as you absolutely must learn to say “no” that habits that will destroy your diet.

Motivation comes first because it gives you the strength to say “no” to some destructive habits that hinder your diet. Motivation can come from within and from outside sources. If you’re only trying to lose weight to please someone else, or to part away from the lazy and self-indulgent prejudice that other people have towards obese people, your motivation won’t be strong enough. It needs to come from within. If you are ashamed of your body, can’t move without getting out of breath or are afraid of heart diseases or diabetes, these powerful inner motivations are difficult to acknowledge but will prove to be the strength that you need to succeed in losing weight.

Proper guidance will teach you the difference between healthy and non-healthy foods and will prove to make or break your diet. Find a great doctor and nutritionist and get their advice.

Society imposes strong pressure on us to be healthy and thin, yet it promotes obesity through its actions and menus. Your weight and your health are in your hands. You can try yet another fad diet or you can aim for success by starting a healthy diet program of exercise and healthy eating.