Yes! After almost 15 weeks of Friday-Fitness madness, we are now heading to the finish line! One more performance to go (hopefully!). We've been in a lot of practicing, and so we must reap what we sow.

Kudos to you my groupmates! All those fancy steps we've made, all those precious time we spent practicing in our favorite spots, those take-out meals, those laughs - the memories will remain in me forever!

As your leader (leader-leaderan...hahah), I commend you for a job well done! May God bless us all in our last performance on FNC22's floor.

=) ^^ej

The Benefits of Youth Sports

Youth sports can have positive effects in the lives of the participants. Children reap many benefits from playing sports, including self-discipline, self-confidence, a healthier body, and stronger relationships with peers and adults. The skills children develop while participating in sports translate to their other activities and commitments, including school performance and family relationships. As young athletes develop their bodies, their minds develop simultaneously.

Self-Discipline

Youth sports builds self-discipline among young people. The commitment to a team and simply making it to each practice is a first step for many young athletes. In order to be successful in sports, kids often practice the same techniques over and over to acquire proficiency. Learning in-bounds plays for basketball, the nickle defense in football, or even the proper hand off technique for a 4x100 relay requires focused attention and dedicated practice to achieve success.

Self-Confidence

Participation in youth sports provides an arena for confidence development. Self-confidence does not come naturally to all children. Interestingly, one of the best ways to develop self-confidence is to be placed in challenging situations. Challenges provide an opportunity for kids to discover solutions on their own, and reap the consequences of whichever solution they choose. Participating in youth sports presents such opportunities over and over again--how to score on a breakaway in soccer, how to beat a defender in a fast break in basketball, or even how to talk to a teammate about his habit of not passing the ball often enough. Challenges, whether physical or emotional, can develop confidence in children.

Builds Strong Relationships

Participation in youth sports provides ample opportunities for kids to build strong friendships with their peers and mentoring relationships with their coaches. Young athletes benefit from working together to reach various goals. Players learn to put the team before their individual interests, which develops the quality of selflessness. Teams of athletes do not always get along perfectly, and putting aside differences to play effectively together is another important lesson to be used throughout life.

The relationships between players and their coaches can be powerful. Players look to coaches for guidance both on and off the field, seeking advice on improving their performance as well as succeeding in school. Players come to trust their coaches, and coaches serve as role models and counselors for players.

Builds a Healthy Body

When children play sports they develop an understanding of what their bodies can do. Young athletes are often fearless, sacrificing their bodies to block a shot or dive for a loose ball. Playing with this kind of abandon can be healthy, and it promotes a trust in their bodies' abilities. Regular games and practices build strong bones and muscles. When athletes are young, the focus should be on learning, fun and fitness.

***re-posted from http://www.livestrong.com/article/83842-benefits-youth-sports/

In the adventurous classic, the Wizard of Oz, the tin man wanted a heart. Along the journey to this powerful wizard who could grant body parts (wouldn’t this be wonderful?), all three friends—the lion, the scarecrow and the tin man discovered they each already had what they were looking for. In the same way a healthy heart lies within our means. As we journey through life, there are certain factors within our control that can help us maintain the healthy heart we all desire.
Lifestyle and diet modifications are the major areas we need to work on to support cardio health.

Initially, the going may seem tough. It’s hard work but keep at it. Once you’ve passed the initial hurdle, cardio health will not seem too difficult to maintain. Keep in mind your goal. The rewarding benefits of cardio health and the feel-good-factor you achieve far outweigh what may seem as grueling changes in diet and lifestyle!

• Begin with weight management. Slim down to a weight that is average for your height and age. Keep a trim waistline is important to health. A few extra inches on your waistline means puts extra pressure on your heart.

• Find out the recommended calorie allowance for your height and age, and conform your diet to these levels. Do this gradually—drastic diets can actually harm your health long term. Losing weight at a steady pace will help promote a healthy loss and maintain your weight loss.

• Choose nutrient-dense foods with the least amount of calories. High fiber foods with plenty of vegetables and fruits will give you vitamins, minerals and fiber. Heart vitamins include Vitamin D and folic acid, a member of the B vitamin family. Include foods rich in heart vitamins, or consider taking a cardio supplement.

• Include fatty fish at least twice a week. Fatty fish is rich in the heart-health promoting omega 3 fatty acids. For a more regular intake of omega 3s, consult with your physician about taking omega 3 supplements or cardio supplements that help support cardio health.

• Remember to eat low-fat foods which include a variety of foods from all food groups. Many doctors recommend the rainbow diet—include as many different-colored foods on your plate as you can. The rich colors each provide different nutrients that complement and enhance synergistic health. By eating a variety of foods, you’ll ensure you’re getting a good dose of heart vitamins and cardio healthy nutrients. For convenience, you may also find these nutrients in cardio supplements.

• Smoking and excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages can be harmful to the heart. To maintain cardio health, you’d need to stop smoking and drink moderately.

• Cut down on high-cholesterol foods. Shop smart for cardio healthy foods. It’s easy to identify them by looking for the AHA heart check. This signifies that the product has been checked for cholesterol and fat values and is a wise choice for supporting cardio health.

• Exercise! This part of a heart healthy regimen cannot be overemphasized—exercise is a must for promoting cardio health. In fact, not exercising can have major damaging impacts on cardio health. At least 30 minutes of exercise each day will go a long way in strengthening heart muscles, promoting better circulation of blood to all body parts and in maintaining overall health and stamina. Choose any of these exercises: jogging, aerobic dancing, walking, cycling, swimming or any physical activity that makes you work up a sweat! If you have any medical conditions, please consult your doctor before starting an exercise regimen.
You may also want to consider supplementing your diet with CardioMatrix which contains heart vitamins such as:

• Folic acid (a member of the B vitamin family). This vitamin helps to maintain healthy homocysteine levels, necessary to keep the arteries healthy.

• CoQ10, this heart vitamin, is responsible for providing the heart with energy to perform its function. Research shows that this vitamin is present in all cells and is necessary for energy production. Most of the body’s CoQ10 levels are concentrated in the heart muscles.

• Omega 3 fatty acids, a popular cardio supplement, assist the body in regulating normal cholesterol levels.

• Phytosterols are nutrients derived from plants that help to regulate healthy cholesterol levels in the body by assisting the body to eliminate cholesterol from the body before being absorbed into the bloodstream.
Unless there are genetic or physiological factors involved, there is nothing that would keep you from good cardio health. The secret is in implementing a cardio healthy diet and incorporating lifestyle modifications into your life that support heart health.


http://www.newvitality.com/shop/cardiomatrix.aspx

The Food You Should Eat Every Day

Hey guys! I saw this article on the homepage of my yahoo address. I hope you'll benefit from this! Enjoy reading. This is written by Holly Robinson Peete.



Eating right on a budget can be a challenge, but it's certainly not impossible. Consider this your cheat sheet to the 5 inexpensive foods you should eat everyday for optimum health.



#1 Leafy greens
Medical experts call them one of nature's miracle foods. Leafy greens like Swiss chard and kale are high in nutrients like folate and vitamins A and C that can lower your risk of cancer. Just one cup of dark, leafy greens a day could also prevent diabetes and high blood pressure.

#2 Nuts
Many nutritionists recommend nuts like almonds, cashews and walnuts because they're high in natural fiber. Fiber slows your digestive process, keeping hunger and unhealthy mid-afternoon snacks at bay. Goodbye vending machine runs!

#3 Onions
Studies show that consuming onions on a regular basis may reduce symptoms of asthma and the risk of developing stomach cancer. Add them to soups and stir-fry, and just remember -- the stronger the onion, the greater the health benefit.

#4 Whole grains
Refined grains, like white rice and pasta, have lost 90% of their nutritional value through the refining process. As if that weren't reason enough to choose whole grains like brown rice, quinoa and whole oats, a recent study showed that a diet rich in whole grains actually flattens your belly by reducing fat storage in your lower abdominal region.

#5 Yogurt
Making yogurt part of your daily eating routine can improve your digestion -- if you're buying the right stuff. Check that the label lists "active cultures" to make sure you're getting healthy probiotics, and pick a yogurt rich in vitamin D to prevent osteoporosis.

Thanks for watching Real-Life Makeover! Tune in next week with more simple solutions to enrich your life.

Why Need to be Fit?

Survival of the fittest

As per the theory of evolution, only the 'fit' individuals of a species survive and pass on their genes. With this information, classifying fitness simply as health is inadequate. More than health, fitness points to the suitability of an individual in a given environment.

To illustrate this, a person adapted to living in the arctic will not be able to survive in an arid desert environment. Thus, in the true sense, fitness is more like a person's capability to survive in a particular environment. This statement also implies that what may be regarded as fit in one environment, may not be fit to survive in a different environment.

This explains why some people fall sick whenever they visit new places. Another interpretation of the statement is that when the environment changes, individuals must change as well or perish and if they do perish, they were never fit to survive there.

The vast majority of the people might not agree with this theory because they do not realize the implications of being unfit. The tragic truth is that we hardly ever react to a situation unless it is already up on us. Unless people have a cardiac arrest or are diagnosed with cancer, they don't seem to realize the importance of fitness.

The benefits of being fit and healthy

The benefits of being fit are plentiful. It would not be incorrect to say that each pleasure that life holds cannot be enjoyed completely if the person is not fit. When you are fit you are free to eat what you like, drink what you like, do what you like and live how you want to without having to wake up in the morning with regret.

You can actually safeguard yourself from ailments such as diabetes, osteoporosis, cardio-vascular diseases, and even dreaded ones like cancer by making an effort to stay fit.

You can improve the quality of your life, be fresher when you get up in the morning, have no fear of infections every time it gets cold and have no qualms when your car breaks down and you have to walk eight blocks back home.

That is the gift of fitness, a sense of independence, a feeling that you can take whatever the world throws at you. The benefits of fitness go beyond all medical and biological boundaries; what fitness really gives individuals is peace of mind.

from: http://www.24hrfitness.co.uk/fitness/fitness-and-health.html

10 Easy Tips On How to Become Fit

Here are some tips that you can use on how to get that weight you always wanted, or simply to maintain your fitness.


1. Start Walking Then Jogging

Walking as well as jogging are both great ways to become fit. You can start with walking in your neighbourhood, in the woods, on the beach or wherever you want for an hour three times per week, then gradually jogg in between. Walking and jogging has many benefits, such as

* making you less stressful
* increasing your lung capability
* strenghtening your heart
* toning your muscles
* giving you a better and healthier look
* warning: training is highly addictive!

2. Go to a Gym or a Fitness Center

Going regularly to a gym or getting a membership in a fitness center makes it easier to stay motivated when working out. In a fitness center you train together with other people with the same goal as you and this will boost your inspiration and encouragement to continue when the hard time comes. In addition you will work out with modern and up-to-date training equipment and last but not lease a qualified staff of workout experts being there for you.

3. Do Resistance Training

It is wise to add resistance to your exercise routine, for example with rubber bands or similar devices made particularly to work with your isometrics. This way, your workout will be more effective and yield better results.

4. Develop Tight Muscles

Aerobic exercises like walking and jogging are great and necessary when you want to become fit. It is also important to develop your lean muscle, which can be done with weight training. This will not only develop your muscles and build a great shaped body but also balance out your workout routine, thus making your fitness better rounded. Go to a gym and get advice from a trainer to put together a training program that makes sense for you.

5. Do Abdominal Crunches

Heard about six-pack abs? It’s an ideal for many, but even if this is not your goal you can start some exercises to get your ab in a better shape. Ab crunches are the simple and are the most common way to develop ab muscle. You don’t need any equipment and you can do it wherever you are. If you didn’t already know it, here is what you do:

- lay down with the back on the floor with bended knees
- keep your feet flat on the floor
- cross your hands across your chest
- curl your torso, rolling from your sternum toward your hips

You should start up slowly with 10 crunches with 3 repetitions. Put another way; do ten ab crunches, then wait a minute and do 10 more, wait another minute, and do the final 10 crunches. After a while, increase both the number of sets as well as repetitions slowly.

6. Do Squats

Squats are another simple to do exercise with splendid results for your calves, glutes, quads and hamstrings. Here’s what you do:

- stand with your feet spread apart about two feet
- bend your knees a little
- start squatting toward the floor very smoothly without going all the way down.

This is a hard exercise because it involves large muscle groups (such as you thigh muscles) so start slowly with few reps and gradually increase speed and reps. Why not utilize free time to do squats? For example, every half hour no matter what you are doing. You can do it anywhere and after a while you will start to experience the benefits of this maybe most effective exercise I know.

7. Do Triceps Press

Your arm muscles especially your triceps have to be developed too, and this is perhaps the part of strength training most people are focusing on. Maybe it’s because the result of this training is so visible. Here is what you do:

- stand on the floor with your feet two feet apart
- bend your knees slightly
- lift your arms and extend them over your head
- lock your elbows
- lower your hands behind your head very slowly.

Use weights with this exercise. Start with one pound and increase gradually to five pounds. If you don’t have weights make yourself weights by filling small stones or whatever you want in bags, weigh them and label each bag according to their weight.

8. Eat More Protein, but balance your meals

People who are exercising need more protein than people who don’t. The common recommendations are:

- protein: 20%-25%
- carbs: 50%-60% carbohydrates
- fat: 20% or less

9. Before You Start, Set Your Goals

It’s important that you set several short termed, reachable and realistic goals instead of one unrealistic and long-termed. The best is to have both short term and long term goals. Break your long term goal in partial goals of four weeks each. Then you will see the results of your training often enough to keep you motivated.

10. Track Your Progress

As you have already seen above, it is meaningless to work toward a goal without tracking your progress. There are lots of things you can measure, such as your weight, your calorie loss, your muscle size, your waist line, your body’s fat percentage etc. etc. There are three areas you should track:

- Your measures already mentioned above. Figure out which measures are important and measurable for you
- Your routines. You need to find out if your routines give the results you want and adjust them if not.
- The most important measure and the least measurable in tangible terms is how you feel; ask yourself: “Am I feeling better, the same or worse?”

I can virtually guarantee you that if you consistently follow these tips; you’ll be amazed of how much better you feel just after a few weeks.


source: http://workoutwebportal.com/10-easy-tips-on-how-to-become-fit/

How Important is Fitness?

Quality of life is the most important thing one can want from life. Good health combined with happiness helps us achieve a high quality of life. Fitness is what makes us achieve these things as quality of life is only attained by a healthy life and fitness makes a life healthy.

Fitness has been defined as:

‘Good physical condition, the condition of being suitable’

Fitness is just as important as good health. Moreover, it can be said that fitness correlates directly with our health. If we are not taking care of our bodies, we get sick. Only fitness can help us maintain good health. You can become fit by following some exercises and taking a healthy diet.

Physical fitness is a set of attributes a person has in regards to a person's ability to perform physical activities that require aerobic fitness, endurance, strength, or flexibility and is determined by a combination of regular activity and genetically inherited ability.

Working Your Way towards Fitness and a Better Health

If you possess a weak health or have been sitting around for a long time, you can not start with a full fitness routine. You will want to start slow and build your fitness level little by little. Doing too much at once may harm you instead of doing any good. If you try to do too much at first, you are likely to abandon it as it will leave you too sore or weak.

Maintaining yourself as fit or getting fit does necessarily mean attending a gym or working out in an aerobics studio. Choose an activity that you actually enjoy and you are more likely to continue with it and notice improvement in yourself. The easiest exercise that you can start with is walking every day. Walking is the best exercise you can do. It involves the entire body and you do not need any special equipment to walk.

The Purpose of Health and Fitness Tips

The main purpose of theses health and fitness tips is to help you in living a better and satisfied life. Without fitness and health, life can lose all of its joys and it can make one feel dejected and withdrawn. Full of health and fitness, you can enjoy your life and live it to the fullest.

With only a few days workout, you will feel a new life in yourself and more healthy. Fitness can be achieved with the simplest of programs which help you attaining better health.

How to Remain Fit and Healthy

• Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetable.
• Increase your protein intake such as fish, lean meats, low fat diary products and beans.
• Eat foods rich in fiber such as beans, cereals, potatoes, nuts and seeds, whole meal baked goods and fruits and veggies.
• Take in good quantities of mineral found in fish, fruits, vegetable and cereals.
• Reduce stress as it is one of the big hurdles on your way to fitness. Meditation, exercise and massages are good way to relieve stress.
• Eat small meals throughout the day rather than big meals and always eat your breakfast as it helps in speeding your metabolism leading to proper digestion.
• Plan an exercise routine for yourself. You can start with an easy to do plan for a short time and increase the time as you go on. It will help you to stay in shape as well as cut down excess calories, maintaining balanced weight.
• Stop the use of drug and try to quit smoking as it is very dangerous for you and those around you. Also, cut down on alcohol to one glass per day.
• Try to get some sunshine early in the morning as it provides vitamin D as it works with calcium and controls body fats.

Fitness is an important part of a healthy life. By making some change in your life style and eating habits, you can move towards fitness and in turn a happier life.

Source: http://www.always-health.com/fitness_importance.html

Stress Management

Overview

First things first, what is stress and how do you know if you're under it? Many people don't realize that stress is a very natural and important part of life. We need stress, but not too much stress for too long (distress).

Our body is designed to react to two types of stress. Good stress helps keep us alert, motivates us to face challenges and drives us to solve problems. These low levels of stress are manageable and can be thought of as necessary and normal stimulation.

Distress, on the other hand, results when our bodies overreact to events. It leads to what has been called a "fight or flight" reaction. Such reactions may have been useful a long time ago when our ancestors were frequently faced with life or death matters. Our bodies really don't know the difference between a saber-toothed tiger and a teacher correcting our test. It is how we perceive and interpret the events of life that dictates how our bodies react.

When we view something as manageable, our body doesn't go haywire; it remains alert, but not alarmed. The activation of our sympathetic nervous system (a very important part of our general nervous system) mobilizes us for quick action. The more we sense danger (social or physical), the more our body reacts.
Problems can occur when over activation of the sympathetic system is unnecessary. If we react too strongly or let the small overreactions (the daily hassles) pile up, we may run into physical, in addition to psychological problems. Gastrointestinal problems (diarrhea or nausea), depression or severe headaches can come about from acute distress. Insomnia, heart disease and bad habits (drinking, overeating, smoking and using drugs) can result from the accumulation of small distress.

What we all need is to learn how to approach matters in more realistic and reasonable ways. Strong reactions are better reserved for serious situations. Manageable reactions are better for the everyday issues that we all have to face.

Chronic Anger

The other type of day-to-day stress response is called chronic anger.

Are you constantly holding in anger?
Are there people in your day-to-day life who repeatedly make you angry?
Do you spend a lot of your time angrily thinking about what certain people said or did to you?
Do you feel you are a victim of injustice?

Perhaps you are so angry that you are no longer holding it in. Do you find that interactions with important people in your life are becoming increasingly tense, hostile or explosive?

Researchers believe that this type of angry, prolonged stress is the most physically unhealthy, particularly for the cardiovascular system. If you suffer from this type of anger-related stress, you should be making some immediate changes in your life.

Ways to Manage Stress

Which effect stress has on you depends on how you handle it. How you handle stress depends on being able to recognize it, knowing where it's coming from and understanding your stress-management options so you can choose the best one for your situation.

Exercise

Frequent exercise is probably one of the best physical stress-reduction techniques available. Exercise not only improves your health, it also relaxes tense muscles and helps you to sleep. Exercise also has a number of other positive benefits you may not be aware of: It improves blood flow to your brain, bringing additional sugars and oxygen which may be needed when you are thinking intensely.

When you think hard, the neurons of your brain function more intensely. As they do this, they build up toxic waste products that cause foggy thinking. By exercising you speed the flow of blood through your brain, moving these waste products faster.

Exercise can cause release of chemicals called endorphins into your blood stream. These give you a feeling of happiness and well-being.

Breathing Control

Deep breathing is a very effective method of relaxation. It is a key element of everything from the "take deep breaths" approach to calming someone down, to yoga relaxation and meditation. It works well in conjunction with other relaxation techniques, such as progressive muscular relaxation, relaxation imagery and meditation to reduce stress.

Progressive Muscular Relaxation

Progressive muscular relaxation (PMR) is a purely physical technique for relaxing your body when muscles are tense. The idea behind PMR is that you tense up a group of muscles so that they are as tightly contracted as possible. Hold them in a state of extreme tension for a few seconds. Then relax the muscles to their previous state. Finally, you consciously relax them again as much as you can.

You can apply PMR to any or all of the muscle groups in your body depending on whether you want to relax just a single area or your whole body.

Experiment with PMR by forming a fist, and clenching your hand as tight as you can for a few seconds. Then relax your hand to its previous tension, and then consciously relax it again so that it is as loose as possible. You should feel deep relaxation in the muscles.

You might be able to relax muscles as much without the initial tension, but tensing the muscle helps to provide a starting point for the exercise. It also helps to gauge the initial level of tension in the muscle.
For maximum relaxation, use PMR in conjunction with breathing techniques and imagery.

Imagery in Stress Reduction

Imagery is a powerful method of stress reduction when combined with physical relaxation methods such as deep breathing and PMR.

We are all aware of how certain environments can be very relaxing, while others can be intensely stressful. The principle behind the use of imagery in stress reduction is that you can use your imagination to recreate a place or scene that is very relaxing. The more intensely you use your imagination to recreate the place or situation, the stronger and more realistic the experience will be.

What is Imagery?

The human brain is a mass of nerve cells. Your sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, etc.) convert signals from your environment into nerve impulses. These feed into the areas of your brain that interpret that environment. Imagery seeks to create a similar set of nerve impulses that can feed into those areas of the brain that experience the outside world.

You can use imagery in the following ways to reduce stress:

One common use of imagery in relaxation is to imagine a scene, place or event that you remember as peaceful, restful and happy. You can bring all your senses into the image, with sounds of running water and birds, the smell of lavender, the taste of cool spring water, the warmth of the sun, etc. Use the imagined place as a retreat from stress and pressure. Your image can be anything that works for you, as long as it feels peaceful. Scenes can involve complex images such as lying on a beach in a deserted cove. There you may "see" cliffs, sea and sand around you, "hear" the waves crashing against rocks, "smell" the salt in the air and "feel" the warmth of the sun.

You can also use imagery as a "rehearsal" before a big event, allowing you to run through the event in your mind. It allows you to practice in advance for anything unusual that might occur, so that you are prepared and already practiced in handling it. This helps to give you the self-confidence you need to do something well. Many athletes and performers use this method.

Meditation

Meditation is a very effective method of relaxation. The idea of meditation is to focus your thoughts on one relaxing thing for a sustained period of time. It gives your body time to relax and recuperate and clear away toxins that may have built up through stress and mental or physical activity.

Meditation is particularly useful when you have been physically active, you have been worrying about problems or you have been under stress for a long time.

Meditation can have the following effects: lower blood pressure, slow breathing, help muscles relax, give the body time to eliminate lactic acid and other waste products, eliminate stressful thoughts, help with clear thinking, help with focus and concentration and reduce stress headaches.

Meditation Techniques

The essence of meditation is to calm your thoughts by focusing completely on just one thing. Meditation is actually an active process which seeks to exclude outside thoughts by concentrating all mental faculties on the subject of meditation.

First of all, it helps if your body is relaxed. It should be done in a position that you can comfortably sustain for a period of time (20 to 30 minutes is ideal). If you choose, and you are sufficiently supple, then the lotus position may be appropriate. Otherwise, sitting in a comfortable chair or lying on a bed may be equally effective.

A number of different focuses of concentration may be used. Which one you choose is a matter or personal taste.

Breathing

A useful method may be to focus your attention on your breathing. Concentrate on breaths in and out. You can accompany this by counting your breaths using the numbers 0 to 9. You can visualizing images of the numbers changing with each breath. Alternatively you could visualize health and relaxation flowing into your body when you inhale, and stress or pain flowing out when you exhale.

Focus on a Sound

Some people like to focus on sounds. The classic example is the Sanskrit word "Om," meaning "perfection." Whether or not this is practical depends on your lifestyle.

Imagery

This can be a very refreshing and pleasant way of meditating. Here you create a mental image of a pleasant and relaxing place in your mind. Involve all your senses in the imagery. If external thoughts or distractions wander in, try to make them drift out by attaching the thoughts to objects and then move the objects out of your mind. This takes time to learn how to do effectively.

You may find that your attention keeps when you first start to meditate. You will find that as you practice meditation your attention will improve. Keep in mind that meditation can take months or a year or longer to master, but you will find that meditation enhances many aspects of your life.

Eliminating those FATS

How To Lose Belly Fat For Beginners (a re-post from http://www.1healthfitness.com/how-to-lose-belly-fat-for-beginners-400)

Losing belly fat is not easy especially if you are attempting this for the first time. If you want to find success with your efforts you need to learn how to lose belly fat in a way that is healthy, safe and long lasting.

Prepare your body

Your body is like a machine. In order to start this machine and put it in a mode that will lose belly fat you have to prepare it. The preparation at this stage has to do with detoxing. You need to eliminate all substances from your body that affect the proper functioning of all body organs. The way to do this is by drinking a lot of water and by eating foods that have such characteristics. Such types of foods are fruits (bananas, citrus fruits, apricots) and vegetables (lettuce, carrots, radishes).

Boost your metabolism

Once you prepare your body the next stage has to do about your metabolism. In order to lose calories and fat your body’s metabolism should increase. The way to boost your metabolism is through regular exercise and by eating small meals every 3-4 hours. The meals should certainly contain bran, low fat dairy products, green tea and other foods that are low in saturated fats and sugars.

Consistency

What you need to understand is that consistency is a very important step in the whole process. Your efforts should be continuous and consistent. This essentially means that once you start your efforts to lose belly fat through a balanced diet and regular exercise you should stick to this for a couple of months and until you get the results you want. If you start and then quit after a couple of weeks and then decide to start again you will not achieve anything. When you start this process you should follow your plan until the end. Be prepared that this process may take a lot of time. How much time exactly will depend on how hard you will try and how willing you are to lose belly fat.

Exercise is essential

We already mentioned above that exercise will help you boost your metabolism. This is essential for any weight loss program. You can not reach your weight or fat loss goals without exercise. The type of exercise you will do does not really matter as long as you do it regularly. If you are not type of person who likes exercise then you need to find a sport or hobby that is intensive enough and do that instead.

Proper Diet for Weight Loss

Overview

Weight loss occurs when you consistently eat fewer calories than your normal calorie intake or you consistently burn more calories with exercise without increasing the amount of calories you eat. A proper diet for weight loss is a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, lean proteins, and beans and lentils and healthy fats from avocado, olive oil, nuts and fish.
A Healthy Diet

Sometimes it seems easier to just grab fast foods or convenient foods for meals and snacks. However, these foods are often loaded with added sugars and fats and contribute to weight gain. By preparing your own healthy meals and snacks you will know what your food is made out of and what you are putting into your body. With a little planning, healthy eating can be just as easy. In addition, healthy foods are just what your body needs to deal with the challenges of a busy lifestyle. Eating healthy will help you to be more focused, more productive and more efficient.
Healthy Eating Tips

There are many quick and healthy meals and snacks that you can eat at home or at the office. Some examples are yogurt or cottage cheese mixed with nuts and dried fruit, a peanut butter and honey sandwich on whole grain bread, fresh fruit with cottage cheese or nuts, raw vegetables with hummus dip, oatmeal with nuts and dried fruit, a turkey or chicken wrap using a whole grain tortilla, a chicken salad, a grilled chicken sandwich on a whole grain bun, brown rice with chicken and vegetables, and a grilled cheese sandwich with low-fat cheese and whole grain bread. In the past it would have been more difficult to make meals with brown rice but now stores offer fully cooked brown rice so all you need to do is heat it up in the microwave.
Combat Hunger Cravings

One of the challenges for weight loss is that when you decrease your calorie intake you may feel deprived or experience hunger cravings. Sometimes hunger cravings can result in overeating. To combat hunger cravings and overeating it is important to avoid skipping meals and to eat small meals and snacks every three to four hours. According to the Weight Control Information Network (WIN), "studies show that people who skip breakfast and eat fewer times during the day tend to be heavier than people who eat a healthy breakfast and eat four or five times a day." It goes on to discuss that eating small meals throughout the day results in appetite control.
Strategies to Feel Satisfied

Many people are successful at losing weight by making sure to eat adequate protein at each meal and snack, which can help you to feel satisfied for longer. According to an article posted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute, "pairing protein-rich foods with your carbohydrates helps you to feel satisfied longer because proteins are digested more slowly." Examples of good sources of protein are peanut or almond butter, raw nuts, cottage cheese, yogurt or low-fat cheese.

Fiber can also help you to feel full and as a result eat less. Fiber comes from whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Vary your whole grains to include brown rice, barley, rye, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, millet, bulgar and cous-cous. Try eating at fruit or vegetable with each meal and snack.
Avoid Empty Calories

Empty calories are calories from foods that contain little if any nutrients. These foods can add up to a significant amount of calories, which translates into weight gain. Empty calories come from processed and refined foods, chips, sodas, cakes, candies, sweets, artificial fruit juices and fried foods.

The article was re-posted from http://www.livestrong.com/article/78185-proper-diet-weight-loss/

Best Foods for a Healthy Heart

Eating for a healthy heart is not difficult. Just eat real food. "Yeah, right," you say. "What's that?"

Perhaps the injunction to "just eat real food" is not as simple as it sounds. We are so confused by conflicting messages in the media. Yesterday, oatmeal was good for the heart, but today it is bad (high in carbohydrates). Yesterday, eggs were bad for the heart (high in cholesterol), but today they are good (low in carbohydrates).

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It is easy to see why we are bewildered. It is enough to toss it all aside and dip into a hot fudge sundae.

Before we stoop to that level, however, let's simplify a diet for a healthy heart. Can you remember "two sets of three?"

Three Foods You Should Rarely (if Ever) Eat
Bacon and other rancid fats top the list of nefarious foods. Considering the popularity of high-protein diets that emphasize bacon and eggs for breakfast, we're probably consuming more bacon than ever, but science (and common sense) says that bacon and other processed meat consumption are associated with an increased risk of certain forms of cancer, diabetes (a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease) and stroke.

Carbonated beverages are second on the list. This subject hits so close to home that I ask the studies to deliver the message: "Higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a greater magnitude in weight gain and an increased risk for development of Type 2 diabetes in women..."

Another study reports, "Increasing intake of rapidly absorbed carbohydrates... can create self-perpetuating insulin resistance state and predicts greater CHD (coronary heart disease) risk..." And, "recent data suggest that a high intake of rapidly absorbed carbohydrates... may increase the risk of coronary heart disease by aggravating glucose intolerance and dyslipidemia."

Soft drinks certainly fall into the category of rapidly absorbed carbohydrates. What this simply means is that soft drinks cause weight gain, increased risk of diabetes, insulin resistance, and elevated blood fats, all of which lead directly to coronary heart disease.

You'll hate the third category of "no-no foods": processed carbohydrates such as white bread, white pasta, white rice, etc. These foods also fall into the class of rapidly absorbed carbohydrates and lead directly to an increased risk of heart disease.

***re-posted from http://www.ediets.com/news/NewsArticle.jsp?id=3200011

author:Carol Simontacchi, CCN, MS

eDiets Contributor

EJ: In a Glimpse

Naimbag nga aldaw!

That is the best greeting an Ilocano could give you which means “Good day!” Yeah right. I am from Cagayan Valley (Region II), specifically from the Land of Smiling Beauty- the Province of Cagayan.

Before moving on, I am Emil Jon Buentipo y Biado.  I am fondly called “EJ” by my close friends but they often create other pseudo’s like --- ah never mind. (*laughs)

Anyways, I am now enrolled at the Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy, University of Santo Tomas, Espana, Manila. I love to play volleyball and badminton way back gradeshool days. It even brought me to several inter-school games. What makes me different from others? --- Nothing much. Just my heart functioning every time and I love being me! 

Yeah, without much ado, as the leader (leader-leaderan?) of the FNC22 – Group 5 or should I say the Fit and Five group, I welcome you here in our site for our Physical Fitness course in UST under Mr. Jerome Porto. BTW, please leave your comments. 

Agyaman nak la unay ken ni Apo Diyos koma ti kanayon nga mangtarabay kadakayo (Thank you very much and may God bless you always).