How To Burn More Calories To Lose Weight?

Everyone knows that we need to burn more calories than we eat to lose weight. But what are calories? Why is it we can lose weight by burning calories? How are calories being burnt?

Calorie is a measurement of heat. It is the amount of energy that is required to raise one milliliter of water by one degree Celsius. Calorie measures the amount of heat or energy that is released when you burn food down.

Calories are burnt through a complicated process that oxidizes food to its basic components. For example, if you burn a sugar, it will turn into carbon dioxide. However in the body, the food burnt is converted to forms of energy.

So therefore when you consume food, the food is broken down and stored as adipose fat or glycogen (which are stored in liver and muscles cells) to be burnt for energy later. Your body prefers to burn glycogen as its first choice of energy rather than body fat when you expand energy such as exercising.

The more muscles you have in your body, the more calories you will burn. The more calories you burnt, the more weight you will lose. This is because muscle cells are metabolically active whereas body fats are not because fat cells do not have much functionality and are mostly inactive.

Different food categories carry different amount of calories. For example, a gram of protein or carbohydrate has about four calories but a gram of fat packs a whopping nine calories. It is thus a no brainer that the more fat you eat the more calories your body will store.

Some people raise their metabolic rate by eating many smaller meals a day instead of three big meals. By eating several 5-6 times a day, your insulin level is also better regulated and less insulin will then be converted to adipose fat.

So how can you burn more calories and further raise your metabolism to naturally burn more calories and body fats? A simple and effective way to burn more calories is to build more muscles as explained above and exercise to expand energy and thus burning more calories in the process.

About The Author

Chris Chew is a fitness trainer of fashion models, actors and male pageant competitors. He is also the creator and author of Burn Fat Build Muscles Fast System. See his websites http://www.sgfitness.com and http://www.sgfitnessonline.com.

Eat Healthy and Lose Weight

If you accept the analogy that our bodies are like an engine, then it follows that this engine will perform better if it receives the type of fuel that it was designed to run on. In years gone by, before artificially processed and manufactured foods, our bodies normally received the correct nutritional balance every day.

As more and more families saw both the husband and wife holding down jobs outside the home, the dynamics of eating, exercise and nutrition began to change. "Convenience" and "fast foods" became the norm, and farms were gradually replaced by processing plants. Today, the average meal is so laden with artificial preservatives and saturated fat that our bodies are starving for the ingredients that they need, and overflowing with the ingredients that they don't need.

This nutritional imbalance manifests itself through weight problems, skin problems, tiredness, disease, and overall poor health. Although this problem has reached pandemic proportions, you can reverse the effects of poor diet in your own life if you truly want to.

Garbage In - Garbage Out

While this phrase may have been coined for the computer industry, it's very relevant when it comes to our own body. Every moment that we are alive, our body is busy manufacturing the chemicals, fluids, proteins, and tissues that are required to keep us healthy. Food, or rather the nutrition that is derived from food, is what the body depends upon to handle all of these tasks.

Everything that we consume is used, stored, or discarded by the body. The body's particular nutritional needs can vary widely depending upon what's going on inside and outside of us at any particular time. Our body makes decisions on whether to burn carbs or fat based upon our immediate energy needs, how long it has been since our last meal, and the general condition of our health.

The body burns fuel in a very specific order. Alcohol is burned first because our bodies have no way to store it for later use. Protein is burned next, then carbohydrates and, finally fat.

Because fat is consumed last, and the average person has a diet which is rich in fat, our bodies store the fat away to be used at a future time. How is this fat stored? You guessed it; it's stored as fatty tissue. And that's why we call being overweight "fat".

These excess fat stores not only affect our physical appearance, but they have a tremendous impact on our overall health. Study after study has shown that excess fat in our diets are directly linked to these medical conditions:

- Increased risk of developing certain cancers.
- Increased risk of arterial and heart disease due to elevated cholesterol levels.
- Increased risk of stroke.
- Increased risk of Diabetes.
- Increased risk of Liver disease.
- Direct impact on the body's immune system.

Doesn't it just make sense to avoid these unnecessary health risks by reducing the amount of fat that we consume every day? Of course it does.

About The Author

Christopher Ayu is the webmaster and content provider of http://www.swim-wear-in-style.com. This is one of the many article posted on his site and can be found at http://www.swim-wear-in-style.com/health-and-fitness.html

christopher05-26@niemail.com

Lose Weight: Sushi Is Your Friend

If you're not making sushi at home you're missing out on a delicious and extremely diet-friendly meal. It's easy to make, fast, nutritious, and the raw fish you're afraid of is completely optional.

First let's have a brief overview of sushi for those who've never had it or those who have tried it but want to know more.

Sushi is the catch-all name for a wide variety of Japanese dishes. The word sushi actually refers to rice with rice vinegar added. Since this is a very basic and lightly flavored food, it is the many ingredients added to it that really define what dish you are eating. The raw fish you have heard of is sashimi - an ingredient of many types of sushi - but you can create sushi with virtually any ingredient that goes with rice.

In America by far the most common type of sushi is Maki-sushi, or rice wrapped in seaweed. The seaweed is called nori and forms the green skin you can see around sushi pieces. For this reason maki-sushi are called nori rolls on many menus. Also popular is Nigiri-sushi, small bars of rice topped with wasabi and sashimi.

It's easy to include sushi into a healthy diet. Think of the ingredients: rice, vegetables, and fish. Not exactly a heart-attack in the making, just the opposite in fact. As long as you don't go overboard on the rice it is extremely low calorie in addition to being low fat. Where we chomp pork rinds and potato chips, the Japanese have sushi. Care to guess which country has a longer average life span?

Let's learn how to make a California roll, easily the most popular nori roll in America today. You will need the following items, all of which should be easy to find in your supermarket's oriental foods section or at your local Asian market:

Bamboo rolling mat
Sushi rice (short or medium grain)
Nori (squares of roasted seaweed)
Salt
Sugar
Rice vinegar
Imitation crab meat
Avocado
Cucumber
Wasabi
Soy sauce

Prepare the rice according to the directions on the package. You will need about 3/4 cup cooked rice for each sushi roll, and most people will be full after eating 1 or 2 rolls.

In a small pan, place a tablespoon of vinegar and 1/3 tbsp of sugar and salt for each 3/4 cup of rice you are cooking. Heat the resulting mixture briefly and stir until the sugar dissolves. When the rice is almost done cooking, begin cutting your vegetables. Peel a cucumber and cut it into long thin strips, about a 1/4" around. Same for the avocado. If you bought powdered wasabi prepare it also (just mix in tiny amounts of water until you get a thick paste).

Once the rice is done, remove it from heat and slowly fold in the vinegar mixture. Then lay the rice out on a sheet of foil or a baking sheet and allow it to cool (traditionally this is done by fanning the rice while slowly stirring it). The rice should be slightly damp and sticky, but not wet and mushy. Getting the rice right is the most difficult part of making sushi, but a little practice will teach you what works.

Once the vinegared rice has cooled off, you are ready to put it all together. Lay your bamboo rolling mat in front of you horizontally (the bamboo sticks should run left-right). Take a sheet of nori and lay it on the rolling mat. Spread a layer of rice on the nori, covering about 3/4 of it. The part of the nori not covered in rice will hold the roll closed (think of the glue strip on an envelope or the gum on a cigarette paper).

Place a strip of avocado and a strip of cucumber on the rice, and top it with crab meat. Now wet your fingers with cold water and dampen the part of the nori you left uncovered. Carefully roll the sushi using the mat, starting with the rice side and rolling it up (don't roll the mat into it, silly). If this sounds complicated, don't worry. It is as simple as rolling up a sleeping bag or a beach towel, and it will be obvious to you once you actually have the ingredients in front of you.

Take the resulting roll and cut it into bite sized slices, usually 6 per roll. If you are having trouble cutting the roll without damaging it, try dipping your knife into water between each cut. Lay the pieces flat and they will look like little colorful discs. Serve with wasabi and soy sauce on the side.

If you feel brave and want to try sashimi, here are a few safety tips. First of all, understand that millions of people eat raw fish every day without getting sick. However, most of them live right next to the sea where fresh fish is abundant. For many land-locked Americans this isn't the case. Fish that is prepared for shipping to a grocery store in Boise is not handled in the same way as that bound for a San Francisco sushi bar. Look for fish that is specially labeled as sushi-grade. Avoid freshwater fish, with the notable exception of Salmon, which spends much of its life at sea. When buying whole fish, make sure the gills are bright red and not slimy, the eyes should be transparent and not cloudy, and there should be no fishy odor.

Take up a healthy and nutritious sushi addiction today. It may take you a while to get the rice and the rolling right, but once you are experienced you'll be able to whip out several nori rolls in five minutes.

About The Author

Torino Rossi is a thin man trapped in a fat (but slowly thinning) body. For free articles and advice on dieting and weight loss visit Torino at http://www.diet-and-lose-weight.com.

Lose Weight The Natural Way While You Sleep

You probably didn't know it, but one of the best times to lose weight is while you sleep. That's because the human body is designed by nature to repair itself during the hours we are sleeping.

Our bodies use sleep to repair and strengthen our muscles, joints and other parts that get tired and damaged through use and exertion during waking hours.

This restorative process uses energy to rebuild lean muscle mass and to help rebuild other kinds of body tissue. That is worth repeating -- this rebuilding process uses energy -- and if the rebuilding process is running smoothly and efficiently, that energy comes from places in our body where energy is stored -- from fat.

In other words, the body rebuilds tissue, organs, bone, and lean muscle by burning fat.

Several things about this process are worth noting. They have an important bearing on how efficiently it works.

**Collagen is very important to the body repair process

Collagen is the most common protein found in our bodies. It is the main component of our skin, nails, bones, cartilage, and connective tissue and is found in all of the body organs. Cartilage is the cushion and shock absorber between joints, and the reason we stay flexible and mobile. Healthy cartilage is constantly being regenerated by the body naturally and this process contributes to keeping us youthful and flexible.

As we age, our bodies lose the ability to produce collagen at sufficient levels needed to support the deep restorative sleep processes that our bodies are designed to perform. This can be a major contributor that leads to a premature aged appearance and can definitely affect our flexibility and mobility. It stands to reason that a collagen supplement combined with other natural ingredients can have a dramatic effect in better supporting the deep restorative sleep process. This in turn can allow the body to experience more energy, build more lean muscle, and burn more fat.

**Amino acids enhance the regeneration process

The rebuilding process is also influenced by the efficiency of the amino acids normally used for this purpose. As part of the rebuilding process, amino acids help maintain lean muscle mass and allow the body to more readily consume fat for energy. This contributes to weight loss.

Again, as we age, our body's production of efficient amino acids is reduced. A supplement such as L-Carnitine is a special amino acid that enhances the body's normal function and helps your body convert excess fat into readily available fuel. During deep sleep, these special amino acids work like a natural "turbo charger" to help your body repair, preserve and build lean muscle while burning stored fat to supply the needed energy.

**Not eating before sleeping is important

Since the body uses deep sleep for the restoration process, it is important when using a collagen supplement not to eat three hours before going asleep. This is because we don't want nutrient competitiion between undigested food and the collagen supplement special nutrient formula itself. If the body has to concern itself with digestion it will not absorb the collagen formula properly. Therefore your body will not be performing its natural restorative process while you sleep, but rather will be concerned with undigested foods and will actually be storing fat from the continuing digestive process rather than burning fat as the energy for the deep sleep restorative process.

This tends to put us into a "diet circle of frustration". The less time your body spends in deep restful sleep (without competing digestion), the less time it has to restore its natural health, and the less fat that is burned in support of this natural rebuilding process. Now we understand the key connection between deep restorative sleep and weight loss many times goes hand in hand with our overall health.

Reducing or eliminating the intake of food three hours before bedtime allows the body to use its natural fat reserves for metabolic fuel during the deep restorative sleep cycle.

**Collagen weight loss program build on this process

A natural collagen product such as Lose and Snooze enables this natural process to once again help people lose weight. Lose and Snooze consists of a blend of Collagen, L-Carnitine and Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera). The Collagen contributes to a more youthful appearance, greater flexibility, and all round mobility and strength.

In addition to all of this, most importantly, Collagen allows the deep sleep necessary to enable your body's natural metabolic functions to occur, like when we were children. L-Carnitine promotes the burning of fat in support of the natural rebuilding, restorative process that occurs during deep sleep. The Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) contains numerous nutrients and amino acids that help create a healthy environment in support of your body's own ability to create its own collagen, in addition to the remarkable Lose and Snooze formula itself.

Thousands of satisfied users of the collagen weight loss program have reported that using the liquid formula in combination with an empty stomach before bedtime, has been beneficial to their health and has helped them naturally lose weight.

And because the collagen weight loss program only helps lose excess fat (while rebuilding muscle), it can be used by anybody -- not just people wanting to lose weight. It has also been beneficial to folks who want to enjoy better sleep, build lean muscle, improve their appearance and to reshape their body while maintaining their proper healthy weight.

About The Author

Rick Hendershot provides low cost Online Advertising - http://www.linknet-promotions.com | Lose Weight the Healthy Way - http://www.loseandsnooze.com/id/rahkeh29 | Online FDA Approved Prescriptions - http://www.mybestscripts.com.

Five Secrets To Weight Loss

Weight loss – such a “big” topic! Every month another book is out by another expert on weight loss. Everyone wants to know the secret to losing weight.

I certainly don’t have THE secret, but I do have some secrets, and I want to share them with you in the hope you find them helpful.

Weight used to be a major issue for me. Losing weight was never out of my thoughts, and I can’t tell you how many different diets, pills and programs I tried until I discovered some “secrets” that have worked for me for many years now.

So here they are. I hope they work as well for you as they have for me.

1. Change your focus from losing weight to achieving great health.

I grew up as a sickly child and I was a sickly young adult. I hated being sick and never having energy to do all the things I wanted to do. So I decided to learn about what creates great health.

First I read tons of books on nutrition and became convinced that I needed to switch to organic foods. That was quite a challenge in 1961! There was one coop health food store that I had to follow around Los Angeles because it kept moving locations. But it was worth it! My rule of thumb now is – if they didn’t eat it 100 years ago, then I won’t eat it now. This cuts out most packaged and processed foods and leaves natural, organic food.

2. Learn to read your body signals regarding what feels good to your body and what feels bad.

I no longer read about all the different diets because I’ve learned to tune into MY body so that I know exactly what my body needs for great health. Since my body needs different things than your body, no single food plan will work for everyone. Your job is to learn to tune into what gives you energy and what robs you of energy, and what foods create calmness and which ones create agitation. Once I learned what my body needs for great health, I lost weight and kept it off easily.

3. Find a form of exercise that you enjoy and that you can do at least 5 times a week.

I discovered that I love to walk in nature, so I take a fast half-hour walk every day. However, this can be a problem if you have physical limitations or chronic illness. Losing weight with chronic illness or physical limitations is not impossible, but it can be a much bigger challenge.

4. Learn to discern which part of you determines what and when you eat, as well as how much you eat.

We all have a wounded part of ourselves that uses various addictions as ways to deal with feelings of loneliness, aloneness, helplessness, anxiety, depression, fear and anger. Some people may use alcohol, drugs, spending, TV, gambling, sex, and so on to avoid their pain, while other use food. While food may work to pacify painful feelings for the moment, in the long run all addictions backfire and create the very pain you are trying to avoid. Yet our wounded self keeps choosing addictive behavior as a way of managing pain. As long as the wounded part of you is making your food choices, you may continue to have a weight problem.

The part of us that is capable of managing painful feelings in healthy ways and making healthy choices is the loving Adult. The loving Adult is the part of us that has a deep desire to learn about and take loving action in our own behalf. Developing a loving Adult is a major aspect in creating health and wellbeing, as well as in losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight.

5. Learn to connect with a spiritual source of wisdom, strength, love and guidance.

The loving Adult is that part of us that is connected with a spiritual source of guidance rather than being governed by the mind. The mind, bring programmed from childhood, is the home of the wounded self. You are being a loving Adult at those moments when you choose to be guided by a source of wisdom beyond your mind. This source will always guide you toward your highest good. You just need to learn to open and listen.

It is very likely that you will not only lose weight, but will also move into more physical and emotional health and wellbeing if you embrace these “secrets” into your life. We offer you a free course (see the resource box) to help you with developing your loving Adult. Once you have developed a powerful loving inner Adult, you will be able to lose weight. If you really want to lose weight, there is a way!

About The Author

Margaret Paul, Ph.D., best-selling author of eight books, including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You” and co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process. Learn Inner Bonding now! Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or email her at mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone Sessions.

Fun Ways To Lose Weight

Many believe that success comes through deprivation and that the more you do something you inherently dislike, the more the chances of being successful. Nothing is further from truth, because real success comes from enjoying what you do. Only then will you stick around long enough to see the results!

Most people who are trying to lose weight feel they love food so much, that they can’t go on a diet or follow an exercise routine. They lament that even if they try to diet and exercise, it’s emotionally so depriving that they can’t sustain it.

So, the trick lies in finding out the things that appeal to you (and be honest or your list will be impractical) and start working around the list. For example, if Cindy likes sweets, biscuits, snacks, Thai food, ice-cream and loves dancing, then this is how she can proceed:

o First, set priorities and see where health figures in your chart. Is staying healthy and looking good as important to you as buying a car to having a beautiful house? Look around in the family. Are the elders of the family healthy or do they have a long list of prescription? Genetics matter.

o Secondly, understand your tastes. Do you like the rich taste of creamy dairy products? Or, perhaps butter chicken?

o Analyze your behavior. When you are under pressure, do you look for food as an option being a sensitive person; do you indulge in comfort eating whenever things or people upset you?

o Buy books on healthy cooking. There are thousands of recipes that can help you cook a delicious and healthy meal. Many people in low calorie food workshops are amazed at how delicious health foods like brown rice, oat and soy breads, cold coffee with skimmed milk, whole wheat pasta, chicken made in hung curd, bran biscuits, cheese salad with balsamic dressing, or a roast potato and walnut salad with hung curd and mustard dressing, are out standing.

o Join an exercise routine that you will enjoy, be it dace, aerobics, salsa or swimming.

o Once a week, let go, as we all need some indiscipline in our lives.

o Open your mind to fun avenues like good music, movies, aroma candles, smart clothes (according to studies, people who are depressed about their body shape stop shopping).

o Being in the company of positive people helps you fulfill your goals!

Myth:

To lose weight faster, one can skip one large meal per day.

Fact: Very common perception but entirely wrong. This will deprive your body of essential nutrients and will be detrimental to overall health by exposing your body to various diet deficiency diseases.

About The Author

Cindi Gass also writes on hemorrhoid treatment. More information: http://www.internal-external-hemorrhoids-pictures.com/natural-hemorrhoid-treatment.html.

Choosing Weight Loss Supplements Wisely

It really chaps my hide whenever I see those commercials on TV with a woman MD-wanna-be hawking the latest diet pill. These “play-doctors” are usually wearing white lab coats, like they’re on the way to perform surgery and just thought they’d take time out of their busy schedule to tell you about this “latest medical breakthrough”. Don’t be fooled…It's all spin, trying to make it appear as if this woman (or man, I’ve seen them, too) is an actual doctor telling you about this latest prescription medicine to solve your weight problem. They even have the nerve to sell it to you in a bottle that looks just like something you would pick up from your local pharmacy.

With obesity and all its related health problems becoming more and more common in the general population, people are becoming desperate to try a “magic pill” that will help them lose weight. As a result, there is a lot of potential harm you can do to yourself if you don’t choose your weight loss supplements wisely.

While many health and fitness experts will tell you flat out not to ever use any supplements-ever-research has shown that some can be used with success under the right conditions.

First, consider whether you are in fairly good health to try one of these weight loss herbs. Are you under a doctor’s care for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, depression or any other serious health problem? Taking any of these types of supplements can be very dangerous. Consult your doctor and get your other health problems under control before using any weight loss supplements.

Second, do your research on who is manufacturing the products. Are doctors involved in the process? What are their credentials? If you see that a doctor (or group of doctors) has been involved in the design and production of an herbal remedy for a health problem, understand that their professional reputation is on the line. Good doctors typically spend decades in medical schools and in clinical environments, practicing medicine. No one who has invested that much time and energy on their medical career is going to sacrifice their reputation for something they are not absolutely sure is going to work.

Third, read the label and research the ingredients. FDA guidelines for herbal supplements do not require standardized amounts. In some cases, you only need a trace amount of the herb in order to put the name on the label so look for the standardized claim on the bottle. That means the same amount is in every bottle. That can also give you a clue as to whether the price is right on a certain herbal compound. If it’s really cheap-or free-there’s usually a reason why;most likely, it’s because there’s very little of the active ingredient in the pill.

Also, look for the word “chelated” and “amino-acid-bound” which means that the minerals are absorbed by your body better and more effectively than the simple forms manufactured by other vitamin-mineral products.

Finally, you must realize that there is no such thing as a “magic weight loss pill”. You must follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly in order for these herbs to work the way you expect. Most good, quality weight loss supplements will enhance your weight loss efforts by increasing your metabolism and suppressing your appetite while you eat those good healthy veggies and take that 30 minute walk everyday. The definition of the word "supplement" is "to increas, extend, or improve something by adding something to it. The best weight loss supplements are not meant to replace, only to supplement, a healthy lifestyle.

About The Author

Eunice Coughlin is the founder of http://www.healthy-living-for-moms.com and has taken off weight successfully by using weight loss supplements and exercising and eating right.