There is a new healthy weight loss diet coming out almost every week. There are also numerous weight loss tips and guidelines to help you lose weight. Now many of these healthy eating guidelines and weight loss tips are valid points and should be followed if you want to achieve permanent weight loss. You may be overlooking a major component to successful weight loss.

This has nothing to do with healthy eating guidelines or exercise intervals. It has to do with recovery and your downtime. How much sleep do you get each and every night? The make or break tip to your weight loss success could be by the amount of sleep you get. Research studies are showing that those who are sleep deprived have higher levels of bodyfat compared to those who get adequate sleep each night.

Studies have also linked a lack of sleep to hypertension and Type 2 diabetes. A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology followed 68,000 Americans for 16 years and found that those who got five hours or less of sleep per night were one third more likely to gain 30 plus pounds over the course of the study than those who slept seven hours or longer.

Another study Stanford University reported that subjects who slept the least had higher levels of bodyfat than those who slept 8 hours or more. The commonalities that both studies have are that the participants who lacked sleep had lower levels of the hormone leptin and higher levels of the hormone ghrelin. Leptin is produced primarily by the fat cells and this hormone works to decrease hunger and increase your metabolic rate. The hormone Ghrelin is produced by the gastrointestinal tract and increases your hunger. This is an imbalance of two key hormones that affect your body type and whether you gain weight or not. The simple answer to correct this is to obviously sleep more. There are other things you can and should be doing to keep your leptin level elevated and your ghrelin level low, but the most often overlooked weight loss tip is sleep. Sleep is something we wish we could do more of and just never seem to get it because we are all very busy. If you are one who struggles with losing weight. You have tried healthy weight loss diet after diet and you still seem to struggle with your weight loss than I suggest this. You should record how much sleep you get each night for one week. Before you go to bed each night evaluate how your day was. Were you tired? Did you wake up refreshed? Did you feel that you needed more sleep? After this one week of recording your sleep look at how many hours on average you slept each night. If it wasn’t 7 hours then make it a goal to average 7 hours of sleep a night. If you did average 7 hours and you still felt tired every morning then work to increase that average to 8 hours and see how you feel. Every person is a little different when it comes to required restful sleep. You may need to experiment with this a little. If you are serious about permanently losing weight though I suggest you make increasing your sleep a priority or everything else you do to lose weight may be for nothing.

Can’t seem to bring yourself to hit the treadmill or do 2o minutes of any form of exercise? What you need is a quick guide on the benefits of regular exercise to get you motivated enough to get you off that couch.
Benefits of Regular Exercise

Benefits of Regular Exercise

I am a person who is lazy by nature, I am not lethargic but I am lazy. Time and again people keep telling me that “You know, all this laziness will disappear once you start getting into a routine of regular exercise, you just don’t know the benefits of regular exercise” And every time I hear people tell me this I feel like telling them, “Yes I do know the benefits of Regular exercise and blah, but for me to get started is a pain, I’m lazy remember.” Well I have never been really motivated, but something here might strike a cord and I might, just might start exercising regularly.

Here are the benefits of regular exercise:

Mood Elevator “ whether you are attacking the treadmill with a vengeance to avoid hitting your annoying colleague at work, or you are just letting out some pent-up energy or frustration, exercise will surely help with your mood. Irrespective of whether you are angry, sad, depressed or anxious, exercise helps, this is because it releases a chemical in your brain that makes you feel so much better. And of course there is that confidence in you that you have exercised and hence are on a way to a better and healthy life.

Walk away from diseases “ you can walk away from chronic disease by simply walking or exercising. You can prevent heart disease and even osteoporosis by exercising daily. Exercise also manages your blood pressure, cholesterol levels and also makes you more active.

Weight management “ this is the most important reason or benefit of exercising, and every one knows that. You exercise and you burn calories, and ergo lose weight. There are thousand excuses people come up with for not exercising, lack of time is a favorite. But there is always a solution, why not walk half way to work and then take a cab or the bus. Stake the stairs instead of the elevator and jump up and down at home every time there is a commercial on TV. Simple isn’t it. But for those who do have the time, hit the gym, it’s a great way to work out and meet new people.

Stronger heart and lungs “ do you notice how breathless you get after a walk up two flights of steps? Well this is because you do not exercise enough and you do not have sufficient stamina. This can be corrected by simply exercising for half an hour every day. Start small, with 20-minute walks and work your way towards 45-minute jogs everyday. And look how strong your lungs become.

Snooze better “ everyone loves to hit that snooze button on the alarm cause it seems like it went off to early and you still need more sleep. If you notice yourself getting tired easily and not getting enough sleep, the problem could be lack of exercise. Start exercising and watch how energetic you become and at the same time you will sleep better. No longer will you need to press that snooze button every ten minutes in the morning.

Spice up life “ believe it or not exercise can improve your sex life, and its not because you become more flexible, but because you have more energy. No longer do you need to tell your partner “Not today honey, I’m too tired.” Exercise will improve your blood circulation and help your sex life. It also helps men suffering from erectile dysfunction.

Fun and more fun “ Don’t think of exercise as dull, that’s no fun. Instead think of exercise as a social activity and see how much better it seems. If you are not the sort to join the gym then think about dance class or power yoga. Find a form of exercise that you enjoy doing. It doesn’t have to be dull; it has to be fun and more fun.

So sign up at that gym with the hottie instructor or go for tennis lessons with your latest love interest, and watch how much fun you have and how beneficial exercise is.

Over 18 million Americans have some form of diabetes. In addition to diet and insulin regulation, there is one thing every diabetic can do to take control of their health:

Exercises-for-diabetes

Exercise.

In her new book, EXERCISES FOR DIABETES (Hatherleigh Press, 15.95), Erin O’Driscoll, RN, MA, helps people with diabetes take control of their bodies and gain strength, courage, and confidence.

Study after study has shown that exercise can lower blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol. It reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, relieves stress, and strengthens the heart, muscles, and bones. Exercise also helps insulin work better, improves blood circulation, and keeps joints flexible.

There are several different modes of exercises that are important to diabetics – aerobics, strength training, warm-ups, and cool-downs. Aerobic exercise strengthens the heart and keeps the exerciser’s muscles warms. Strength training builds endurance, while improving both joints and muscles. Warm-ups and cool-downs are essential for the safety of the exerciser. EXERCISES FOR DIABETES gives various examples of each with easy to follow pictures and detailed instructions.

Here are some of the exercises O’Driscoll recommends:
Aerobic Tap Backs: Start with your feet together. Tap your right foot to the back and return in to center, tap your left foot back and return it to center. Alternate tapping the right and left foot to the back as you press both arms to the front.

Lateral Raises for Strength: Start with your arms at your sides and your feet shoulder length apart. Stand tall with your head in line with your spine. Keep your hips neutral. Raise your right arm to the side, up to shoulder height, pause at the top, and slowly lower the arm back down to your side. Repeat with the left arm. Alternate lifting and lowering the right and left arms.

Warm-up or cool-down with a back rotation stretch: Lie on your back and slowly drop both knees to the right side. Let your arms reach out to the opposite side and turn your head in the direction of your arms. Holding the stretch, slowly bring your knees to the center and then gradually drop them to the opposite side. Again, the arms reach out in the opposite direction.

Master these two simple moves for sizzling results

With crazy new fitness classes and equipment popping up faster than post-election pundits, it’s tempting to ditch the old.

The best exercise

Not so fast.

We asked the experts which upper- and lower-body exercises you should always do, and they overwhelmingly voted for two classics: the single-leg squat and the pushup. Neither move requires a single piece of equipment, and together, they work the entire body–hard.

But this dynamic duo requires serious strength. Even a regular gym-goer will need to ease into them, says Robin Retherford, A.C.E., N.A.S.M., group fitness instructor at Crunch in Miami Beach. Start by adding the first version of each move to your strength routine two or three times a week for two weeks. For the two weeks after that, move on to the second variation. By the end of week four, you’ll be ready to make the real-deal moves a permanent part of your workout–and have a toned body to flaunt as you crank them out.

Here are some exercises that target specific areas of the body that can help you organize your workouts. These exercises can add variety to you workout and eliminate the potential for burnout that comes with consistent exercise as well as help both the serious and casual exercisers who are looking to tone their bodies.
Ab Exercises:

Sit ups: (Works your abs) Laying on your back with your knees bent and arms crossed across your chest, bring youself up by bending at the waist. when your elbows make contact with your legs, go back down. Continue this process until you can no longer sit up.

Side push ups: (Works your arms and oblique muscles) Lay on you side, with your arm (from your hand to your elbow) in contact with the ground. You hips down to the outside of your foot should also be in contact with the grounds. Push yourself up until only your arm and the ouside of your foot are still on the ground. Bring yourself back down until your hips contact the floor and then bring yourself back up again. Repeat this process until you can no longer. Then, switch sides.

Bicycle crunch: (Works you abs) Lay on your back with your legs up in the air but bent parallel with the floor. Put your hands on the back of your head with your elbows parallel with your head. Now, pedal with your legs as if you’re riding a bike and alternate touching your elbows to your opposite leg when it is closest to your body. Continue this process until you’re tired.

Straight leg crunch: (Works your abs) Lay down flat on your back with your legs straight. Cross your arms across your chest and sit up until your elbows contact your legs. Continue the process until you no longer can.

Scissor crunch: (Works your abs) Start laying flat on your back with your legs straight. Next, lift your legs about an inch off the ground. Then alternate bringing one leg up about six inches and then back down until it is even with your other leg. Do this until you’re tired.

Sit ups w/a ball: (Works your abs) You can do this by your self or with a partner (preferably the latter). Get in a sit up position (see sit up instructions) and on your way up, have a friend throw you an exercise ball (5-12 pounds ideally). Go back down with the ball,and on your way up, toss your friend the ball back. Continue this process until your friend tells you to stop.

Not only is never too late to get fit, but it’s even more important to make fitness, healthy eating, and the reduction of stress, a priority as you mature.

NOTE: Mature adults on medications should check with their healthcare professionals to see if their medication might affect their exercising heart rate. If you experience difficulty breathing or chest pains while exercising, stop immediately and consult your healthcare provider.

Many of the common complaints associated with the aging process — joint stiffness, weight gain, fatigue and loss of bone mass, among others – can be prevented by adopting a regular plan of physical fitness. Keeping your muscles conditioned and your heart strong and efficient can offset these minor complaints and may help reduce your risk of more serious conditions, such as hypertension, heart disease and circulatory problems.
Fit muscles

Muscles make you move and support your skeleton. But as you age, muscles and bones tend to lose mass and weaken, which can lead to poor posture and a limited range of motion. To prevent this from happening, it’s helpful to do muscular conditioning and flexibility exercises.

Muscles and bones grow stronger by working against progressively increased resistance. The more demand you put on a muscle over a period of time, the larger and stronger it will grow to meet that demand. Exercises such as weight lifting, leg-lifts and standard push-ups are all muscle-strengthening exercises. Like an unused rubber band, unused muscles can become stiff and tight. By gently stretching your muscles throughout the day, you can remain limber and improve your ability to move through a wide range of motions.
Fit heart

As we age, the heart muscle becomes more fatty and less muscular. The insides of the blood vessels narrow, and elastic-like fibers inside the arteries begin to stiffen. To keep your heart in condition, heart-strengthening aerobic exercise is of primary importance. But many mature adults think aerobic exercise involves wearing unflattering leotards or running a four-minute mile. Fortunately, you don’t have to do either to condition your heart and lungs. Walking is one of the best cardiovascular conditioners and can be done by almost anyone, regardless of age or physical condition. The key to successful walking is to walk briskly enough to keep your heart beating in its target heart range (THR) for 20 to 30 minutes.
What part does your target heart range play?

Your target heart range (THR) is the safest and most beneficial range of heartbeats per minute during exercise. While many factors, such as your overall health and medical history, can affect your THR, a basic guideline is to subtract your age from 220 and multiply the answer first by .6 for the low end of your target heart range of heartbeats per minutes, and then by .85 for the high end. Remember to start slowly and gradually build up your pace until you can exercise comfortably within your THR for 20 minutes at least three times a week.
Talk Test

Whether or not you check your THR during each workout, adjust your pace so that it’s brisk but you’re not out of breath. Use the talk test — always be able to carry on a conversation during cardiovascular conditioning.
Improve your odds of living longer, living better

It’s easy to find yourself in a harmful cycle of fatigue, poor eating habits and stressful living. Too much stress affects a good night’s sleep, which leads to fatigue. For quick pick-me-ups during the day, you may be turning to fast food and snacks. When it’s time to wind down, you may be going for cigarettes, alcohol, sleep aids or recreational drugs.

This may not sound like a prescription for living well, but it’s all too familiar to many of us. It’s not always easy to choose a healthy lifestyle. Taking control of your life and health means making healthier choices. When you do, you’ll see and feel noticeable effects from day one. Remember, the more often you make health-supporting choices, the better you’ll feel.
Controlling stress…

* means taking time for yourself, so you can approach situations with more control.
* allows you to relax and get more enjoyment out of life.
* will help you get a good night’s sleep.
* can be done with the help of positive reactions to the inevitable stress in life.
* can help reduce blood pressure, which in turn makes you less prone to heart disease and stroke.
* can minimize muscle and back aches and digestive problems.

Eating right…

* helps your digestion.
* helps you control weight gain.
* lowers your risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.
* gives you energy and stamina.
* helps you ward off certain diseases, including diabetes and cancer.

Regular exercise...

* can boost your sense of well-being.
* reduces stress.
* can help you quit smoking.
* puts you in charge of your life.
* helps you control your weight.
* reduces high blood pressure.
* gives you energy, strength and endurance.
* lowers your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.
* helps you sleep better.

Avoiding nicotine, caffeine, alcohol and other drugs…

* reduces tension and sleep problems.
* helps you improve your nutrition.
* may be the most positive step you can take for long-term health.
* reduces the risk of developing certain diseases.
* can give you the immediate benefits of living life to the fullest.

There’s never a better time for a woman to quit smoking than when she’s pregnant, doctors say, and all it may take is a little exercise.

Researchers from St. George’s University in London found that even just one day of exercise a week could help pregnant women quit smoking before giving birth.

In a study of 32 pregnant women, 25 per cent kicked the habit. That figure is comparable to non-pregnant smokers who use nicotine replacement, such as patches and gums, to quit.

“These results are very encouraging and we are now conducting a randomized controlled trial with 850 women,” lead study author Michael Ussher said in a statement. “Regular exercise is ideal for any pregnant women who smoke as it’s obviously safe and the benefits are enormous.”

The findings are published in the open access journal BMC Public Health.

Smoking during pregnancy can contribute to low birth weight and increased risk of infant mortality, as well as learning difficulties, behavioral problems and asthma in childhood, according to the study.

Despite public health campaigns and warnings from doctors, about 17 per cent of women in the U.K. and 20 per cent of women in the U.S. smoke while pregnant.

Pregnant women face more obstacles to quitting because nicotine replacement therapy may harm the fetus.

Researchers are now seeking alternatives, such as exercise, which has been proven to reduce smokers’ nicotine cravings.

This most recent study included pregnant women over age 18 who smoked at least one cigarette per day.

They were between 12 and 20 weeks into their pregnancies.

One group exercised once a week for six weeks, while a second group exercised twice a week for six weeks, then once a week for three weeks.

Researchers supervised the exercise, which included walking on a treadmill.

The subjects were also encouraged to exercise more often if they were able.

In addition to quitting smoking outright, many of the study subjects found they had fewer cravings for cigarettes, lost weight and had a better self image.

Many women begin smoking again after they give birth, the researchers said. Further studies will help determine if physical activity can help reduce the likelihood of relapse.

Labels:pregnant women exercise

If I had to pick a single factor that I thought was most important in a successful exercise or weight loss program, it would be to exercise first thing in the morning… every morning! Some mornings, you may just be able to fit in a 10 minute walk, but it’s important to try to do something every morning.

So why mornings?…

1. Over 90% of people who exercise *consistently*, exercise in the morning. If you want to exercise consistently, odds are in your favor if you exercise first thing in the morning.

2. When you exercise early in the morning, it “jump starts” your metabolism and keeps it elevated for hours, sometimes up to 24 hours! That means you’re burning more calories all day long just because you exercised in the morning!

3. When you exercise in the morning you’ll be *energized* for the day! Personally, I feel dramatically different on days when I have and haven’t exercised in the morning.

4. Many people find that morning exercise “regulates” their appetite for the day…that they aren’t as hungry and that they make better food choices. Several people have told me that it puts them in a “healthy mindset”

5. If you exercise at about the same time every morning… and ideally wake-up at about the same time on a regular basis, your body’s endocrine system and circadian rhythms adjust to that, and physiologically, some wonderful things happen; A couple of hours *before* you awaken, your body begins to prepare for waking and exercise because it “knows” it’s about to happen…why? because it “knows” you do the same thing just about everyday. You benefit from that in several ways…

a) It’s MUCH easier to wake-up. When you wake-up at different times everyday, it confuses your body and thus it’s never really “prepared” to awaken.

b) Your metabolism and all the hormones involved in activity and exercise begin to elevate while you’re sleeping. Thus, you feel more alert, energized, and ready to exercise when you do wake-up.

c) Hormones prepare your body for exercise by regulating blood pressure, heart rate, blood flow to muscles, etc.

6. For many people, that appointed time every morning becomes something they look forward to. It’s time they’ve set aside to do something good for themselves…to take care of their body and mind. Many find that it’s a great time to think clearly, pray, plan their day, or just relax mentally.

7. Research has demonstrated that exercise increases mental acuity… on average it lasts four to ten hours after exercise! No sense in wasting that while you’re sleeping.

8. Exercise first thing in the morning is really the only way to assure that something else won’t crowd exercise out of your schedule. When your days get hectic, exercise usually takes a backseat!

9. If finding time to exercise is difficult, anyone can get up 30 to 60 minutes earlier to exercise (if it’s a priority in your life). If necessary, you can go to sleep a little earlier. Also, research has demonstrated that people who exercise on a regular basis have a higher quality of sleep and thus require less sleep!

Labels:Exercise, successful exercise