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Water Aerobic — Rehab Or Something More?

fitgizmos — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:00:52 +0000

Water aerobics is a popular method of physical rehabilitation, particularly for those coming off of knee and ankle injuries. These exercises help people regain control and build strength in the area of injury. But did you know that water aerobics is also a popular exercise method for healthy individuals?

How Water Aerobics Works

Water aerobics are special exercises done while the body is partially submerged in water. These exercises are most often done in pools, where the relatively calm water and varying depths allow a wide variety of exercises to be done. The main advantage of water exercises is that water supports the individual’s weight, but adds resistance to movement at the same time.

Exercising in a pool means the individual carries less weight on the legs, especially on the ankles and knees. (Some hip injuries may also be rehabbed with water aerobics.) Working out in the water is also ideal for sufferers of arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

But as mentioned, water aerobics are no longer just for rehab. More and more fitness aficionados are realizing that water exercises are a great alternative to slaving away at the gym. Today, people of all ages troop to pools for all types of water exercises.

Examples Of Water Aerobics Exercises

One of the most basic water exercises is to simply wade in waist-deep water and take large strides forward. The aim is to work against the water resistance and move forward as quickly as safely possible. This simple exercise builds leg strength very quickly.

Leg stretching is also a simple exercise that beginners can try. While in neck-deep water, swing a leg forward, backward, or to the sides (while holding the edge of the pool). Alternate legs, and kick as high as you can each time. Just be careful about slipping.

Finally, another simple exercise is treading water. You can go to the deep end of the pool so that your feet don’t touch the floor anymore, and simply tread with your arms or legs to keep your head above water. This quickly builds strength and endurance in your arms or legs, depending on which you work out.

What You Need For Water Aerobics

If you’re not comfortable around the deep end, feel free to use floaters. Better safe than sorry! Floaters are essential for individuals who can’t swim very well. You may also need other pieces of equipment, such as aquatic shoes, which help grip the floor of the pool better and provide extra balance.

Later on, as you progress through more and more difficult water aerobics routines, you can start bringing other equipment into the mix. Aquatic weights, kickboards, and beach balls all add resistance to movement, so you can keep ramping up the intensity for your exercises — all while staying cool in a pool.

Perfect For Summer

Water aerobics is definitely worth a try if you don’t like exercising in the hot sun or sweating through a stuffy gym. With water aerobics, you can recover from injuries, build muscle and endurance, and stay cool all at the same time.

Herbal Weight Loss Pill – Safe Or Unsafe?

fitgizmos — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 21:00:09 +0000

There are lots of diet pills going around — prescription, non-prescription, all-natural, the list goes on and on. But much has been said about a little sub-niche in the industry — herbal diet pills. Are they really as safe as they claim, or as unsafe as many health “experts” insist? Let’s find out in this article.

The Deal With Herbal Medicine

Herbal medicine has been found to be beneficial to the health when taken in small, controlled amounts, but not in large amounts or for a prolonged period of time. The typical way to use herbal medicine is to take it for one month running, and then let the body cleanse itself of the herbs for the next month.

Why the necessary cleansing? Simple — our bodies weren’t designed to subsist on herbs. They may provide some benefit in small amounts, but large amounts can be toxic and lethal. So it’s best to be very careful when taking any sort of herbal medicine.

How Herbal Weight Loss Pills Work

Herbal weight loss pills work in various ways — they may increase the body’s metabolism, they may encourage fat burn, they may help the body build lean muscle, or they may cleanse the body of stored water and crud in the digestive system.

Again, it’s dangerous to take any herbal medicine in large quantities or for prolonged periods of time. Some herbal ingredients may interact negatively with any medicines or supplements your’e currently taking. In fact, some herbal ingredients have been found to be so toxic the FDA banned them completely.

“Herbal” Doesn’t Automatically Mean “Safe”

Some herbal diet pills have been known to cause liver damage in some people. Others, especially the “body cleansing” types of herbal pills, may cause dehydration, constipation, diarrhea, and gas.

Take note to avoid any herbal diet pill that contains the ingredient “Ephedrine.” The FDA has banned it for consumption in the United States, but it may still be in use and circulation in other parts of the world. Be sure to check the labels of every diet pill you’re considering to try.

How To Use Herbal Weight Loss Pills Safely

The surest way to stay on the safe side is to ask your doctor about the herbal diet pills you’re considering. Your doctor will tell you which herbs are safe and which aren’t. Also, since your doctor knows your medical history, they can make sure the diet pills won’t harm your health.

Also, remember to take the herbal diet pills at their correct suggested dosage. And don’t forget the other pillars of good health — a balanced diet based on fruit and vegetables, lots of exercise (cardio, weight training, and interval training), lots of sleep, and multivitamins.

Safe Or Unsafe?

It would be wrong to classify all herbal weight loss pills as “safe” or “unsafe.” Many are safe, while many others aren’t. Again, ask your doctor, do your own research, and try herbal pills for short periods of time. Hopefully, you’ll find a pill that’s perfectly safe for you AND helps you lose weight faster.

Diet Pills – Friend Or Foe?

fitgizmos — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:20:50 +0000

More and more dieters are turning to diet pills for a little extra help in weight loss. There are a lot of diet pills out there, and they all claim to help users lose weight faster. But a few diet pills have made headlines for their dangerous side effects. And that begs the question: Are diet pills our friends, or foes?

What Diet Pills (Claim To) Do

Here’s the thing: Different diet pills work in different ways. Some, for instance, work by boosting the metabolism. Others work by encouraging fat burn. Still others encourage slimming through the building of lean muscle, and there are others that induce weight loss by cleansing the body of excess water and waste material.

Do they work? Diet pills seem to work wonderfully for some people, while they seem to do absolutely nothing in others. In other words, it’s wrong to generalize and label ALL diet pills as “friend” or “foe.” It would seem that the best way to find out is to try the pills ourselves.

Metabolism-Boosting Diet Pills

One of the most common (and generally safest) kind of diet pills are those that claim to boost the body’s metabolism, or natural rate of calorie burning. The more calories your body burns on an average day, the more pounds you’ll drop at the end of the month. Such diet pills often include ingredients such as green tea extract.

Of course, metabolism-boosting diet pills won’t do much when used on their own. You’ll still need the basics — an organic, plant-based diet, lots of exercise, multivitamin supplements, and enough good sleep. You may also want to really “go natural” and develop a love for green tea itself, for instance.

Muscle-Building Diet Pills

Muscle is more metabolically-active than fat. Each extra pound of lean muscle you put on will burn 10-50 calories per day on its own. That may not seem much, but that adds up to 1-5 pounds of fat every year. That’s why many health experts advise building lean muscle to accelerate weight loss.

Some diet pills induce weight loss by encouraging muscle growth. These diet pills may contain ingredients such as protein, whey, etc. Again, these pills won’t build muscle on their own — you’ll also need to put a great muscle-building regimen in place, with lots of weight-lifting exercises and high-intensity interval training.

Body Cleansing Diet Pills

Other diet pills work by cleansing the body of excess water and waste material. For instance, there are diet pills that clean the digestive system of waste material that’s been there for years, or even decades. Obviously, this can result in some VERY fast weight loss — up to 12 pounds or more within the first two weeks.

Of course, that’s just the waste material leaving the body. What about the slimming part? Well, a clean digestive system means you’ll need less food to feel full and nourished, which means it will be easier to cut calories.

So What’s The Verdict?

Once again, it would be wrong to generalize all diet pills. After all, they work for many people — there wouldn’t be such a big market for them if they didn’t work at all! So if you want to know whether or not they’ll help you, try them yourself — or ask your doctor.

Exercises For Three Different Goals – Which One Do You Use?

fitgizmos — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:00:16 +0000

Not all exercises are the same! When you have different fitness goals, you’ll need different types of exercises. Here are the different exercises for different goals — make sure you know what you want before you start working out, or you’ll just be wasting your time!

Exercising For Fitness?

Some individuals are lucky enough to not be grossly overweight or underweight, and would like to exercise simply to maintain their good health. If that sounds like you, then you’ll need exercises that will keep your body limber, strong, and flexible.

The first kind of exercise you’d want to have on your regimen are the cardiovascular exercises. Jogging, biking, and swimming are examples of common cardio exercises — they get the blood running and your lungs breathing. Cardio boosts the metabolism and promotes circulation.

For flexibility and strength, you may want to try exercises such as Yoga and Pilates. Yoga is serene and flowing, while Pilates is tough and tense — a great Yin-Yang of exercises. These exercises aren’t only good for the body — they’re also good for the mind, and can be a relaxing way to pace yourself through a busy week.

Exercises For Weight Loss?

If you want to exercise to lose weight, then here’s a tip — don’t rely on just cardio. Some people make the mistake of jogging for hours, or spending all their gym time on the treadmill. Cardio does boost the metabolism, but not enough to encourage fat burn on its own.

When you rely on just cardio to lose weight, what happens is that your efforts tend to plateau. Your body gets used to the routine, and your weight loss slows down and stops. What’s worse, long and slow cardio can put you at risk of repetitive stress injury!

Don’t just rely on cardio. Instead, focus on more intense interval training. If you like jogging, learn sprinting. If you like biking, learn spinning. By hitting maximum effort in short bursts, you’ll be encouraging more fat burn — and you’ll be building some calorie-burning muscle, too.

Exercises For Muscle Growth?

It’s a no-brainer, but if you want muscle growth, you’ll need to focus on resistance training. The idea is to work your muscles to failure, so that the body repairs and grows them during your rest days.

When it comes to resistance training, you’re often faced with two choices at any gym — machines, and free weights. It’s a good idea to utilize ALL the tools your gym offers, so that you get to work out ALL your muscle groups. But if you had to choose, choose free weights. They’re better for muscle growth.

No time or money for the gym? Then use body weight exercises instead. Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and horizontal bar pull-ups are all great body weight exercises, and you don’t need a gym to do them. Just remember to do sets that work your muscles to failure, and you’ll be seeing bigger muscles in the near future.

Diet Recipe Showdown

fitgizmos — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:00:08 +0000

Ready for a diet recipe showdown? In this article, we’ll compare three of the more popular diets today — the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, and the Zone diet — and see how they stack up against each other. Which one will fit your lifestyle best? Let’s take a look!

Diet Recipe Showdown #1 – Food

Let’s start with the popular Atkins diet. The Atkins diet calls for severe limitation of carbohydrate intake, while upping your intake of protein and other nutrients. That means you can still eat steaks, lobster, and burgers (without the buns though), but no breads, beans, pastas, rice, fruits, and starchy vegetables.

The South Beach diet, on the other hand, gets rid of most fruits, dairy, and simple carbohydrates during its first phase, but gradually re-allows them into the diet in the second and third phases. It’s somewhat more flexible than the Atkins diet in that sense. The South Beach focuses on allowing the right kinds of carbohydrates instead of limiting the intake.

And finally, the Zone diet will let you eat small portions of lean meat, tofu, vegetables, seafood, and fruit. The idea is to get into the “zone” diet of 40% protein, 30% carbohydrates, and 30% fat, which helps the body perform at its peak.

Diet Recipe Showdown #2 – Ideal Candidates

Since the Atkins diet removes most of the carbohydrates from the diet, it’s the best diet for meat lovers who have no problem giving up bread, rice, most fruits, and pasta. It’s also a good diet for people who need to lose weight, but aren’t really interested in eating salads to do so.

What about the South Beach Diet? It’s also for people who’d like to try a low-carb diet, but aren’t really willing to give up bread, rice, fruits, and pasta. Again, it’s not as fixed and inflexible as the Atkins diet, so South Beach dieters will enjoy a bit more freedom.

And finally, the Zone diet is best for dieters who like to crunch numbers and watch what they eat very, very closely. Knowledge is the best antidote to fear, after all, and when you know exactly what’s going into your body, you can rest easy.

Diet Recipe Showdown #3 – Disadvantages

When it comes to the Atkins diet, the biggest disadvantage is the toll it may take on your heart and kidneys. Eating lots of meat means taking in a rather large amount of fat and cholesterol, and the ketosis fat-burning stage can hurt the kidneys in the long-term. And finally, you’ll be taking in less fiber, which can lead to constipation.

The South Beach diet also has its disadvantages — the first phase, for instance, can be a real chore to work through. But once the second phase sets in and you’re allowed to eat a wider variety of food, things aren’t so bad anymore.

The Zone diet, aside from running the same protein-related risks that the Atkins diet does, is also not suitable for people who don’t have the ability (or patience) to measure their servings!

Now that you’re in the know, it’s time to decide what kind of diet is best for your goals, your lifestyle, and your abilities.

BMI – Numbers Don’t Lie

fitgizmos — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:00:37 +0000

Is there an accurate way to tell whether you’re at your ideal weight level? The answer is yes — and that method is what we call the BMI. It’s a general measure to see whether a person is overweight, underweight, obese, or at a healthy weight. Here’s how to find out your own BMI.

What BMI Stands For

BMI actually stands for Body Mass Index. It’s not a measurement of how much body fat you have on — it just tells you whether your weight is at a healthy range for a person of your height. When you know your BMI value, you’ll have an idea of what you need to do to stay healthy.

Your BMI value comes in the form of a number. The higher the value, the more weight you have for your height. The lower the value, the less weight you have — which, by the way, isn’t healthy either! The idea is to adjust your weight slowly to achieve a BMI you’re comfortable with.

How To Calculate Your BMI

To calculate your BMI, you’ll first need to get your weight in kilograms. If you’re not sure how much you weigh in the metric system, simply take your weight in pounds and divide it by 2.2046. The resulting figure is your weight in kilograms.

Next, get your height in meters. Again, if you’re not sure about your height in meters, simply take your height in inches, and then divide it by 40. Once you get your height in meters, multiply it by itself. (In geek-speak, square it.) And take note of the resulting number.

To get your BMI, divide your weight in kilograms with the square of your height in meters. When you get a value between 15 and 50, then you’re likely on the right track.

What Your BMI Means

If your BMI value is between 18.5 and 25, then congratulations — you’re in what many experts claim to be the ideal range. It’s likely you’re in good health. Your goal should be to stay in the healthy BMI range.

If your BMI value is less than 18.5, then you’re underweight. You’re likely a bit skinny for your height, and that can put your health at some risk. Underweight individuals are somewhat more prone to sickness, so it’s your job to steadily gain weight and raise your BMI value above 18.5.

If your BMI value is between 25-30, it means you’re overweight — and you may want to lose a bit of the flab for your own good. If your BMI value is between 30 and 40, then you’re classified as obese — and if over 40, you’re morbidly obese! It’s time to seriously find a way to lose all that extra weight — you’re putting your life in danger of many lethal diseases.

What’s your BMI? What do you need to do to stay healthy? Calculate it now!

Metabolism Fitness Gadget

Special K Challenge — What It Can Do For You

fitgizmos — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:00:27 +0000

Have you heard of the Special K Challenge? It’s a special diet that cereal king Kellogg came up with to help overweight individuals shed 6 quick pounds in 2 weeks. It’s a good first diet to try, since it doesn’t involve any drastic changes in the diet, and the food you get to eat are still familiar and tasty.

About Special K

Special K is a range of food products created by the Kellogg company. Its cereals, protein bars, cereal bars, crackers, protein water mixes, protein shakes, and fruit crisps are low-calorie, low-fat alternatives to similar products — all forming a large part of the modern Western diet.

The great thing about the Special K Challenge is that aside from taking in less fat and less calories, the food you’ll eat will still be quite tasty. Familiar flavors such as chocolate, peanut butter, caramel, french vanilla, and oats & honey can be tried. It’s not hard to get into such a diet at all, even if you’ve never tried dieting before.

How The Special K Challenge Works

The Special K challenge involves replacing two of your three big daily meals. You’ll replace your first meal with a serving of Special K Cereal (any flavor you want) plus 2/3 cup of skim milk, plus fruit to fill you up. The second meal can be the same as the first, or you can also try either a Special K Protein Meal Bar or a Special K Protein Shake.

During the Challenge, you’ll also be having two snacks, such as one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Your snacks may consist of Special K Protein Snack Bars, Special K Cereal Bars, Special K Fruit Crisps, Special K Crackers, or Special K20 Protein Water Mixes. And if you’re still hungry, you can keep eating fruits and vegetables and drink more water.

You’ll be following this new diet every day for two weeks, after which you’ll lose up to 6 pounds. After the Challenge, you can revert to your old diet if you wish.

Are You Sure This Isn’t Just A Marketing Ploy?

Sure, some might see the Special K Challenge as a marketing ploy to make people buy more cereal. But despite the criticism, there have been a good number of success stories coming from individuals who have tried the Special K Challenge and achieved the 6-pound weight loss target!

Granted, without the proper lifestyle, there’s a chance those six pounds will come back with a vengeance once the dieter resumes an unhealthy lifestyle. That’s why it’s a good idea to combine the Special K Challenge with the other “legs” of the “healthy lifestyle stool” — plenty of exercise, and an aggressive multivitamin and antioxidant regimen.

Biggest Loser – Follow The Diet At Home

fitgizmos — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:00:34 +0000

Do you find yourself impressed by how the contestants on the popular TV show Biggest Loser seem to lose so much weight, and then keep it all off? Do you want to see that kind of results from your own efforts? Here’s some good news — you can! The Biggest Loser’s diet-and-exercise routine is so safe that it’s endorsed by many doctors, dietitians, and nutritionists.

The Diet

The diet is fairly simple — you’ll just have to remember the numbers 4-3-2-1. This stands for 4 servings of fruits and vegetables, 3 servings of lean protein, 2 servings of whole grains, and 1 “extra” serving of your choice — alcohol, sweets, oils, or healthy fats, all under 200 calories. This is the amount of food you’re allowed to take in every day.

Basically, you divide your 4-3-2-1 servings across five meals during the day — breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. You’ll notice that these meals are quite small, which is okay — they’re packed with protein and fiber, making you feel fuller with less calories. And if you still find yourself hungry, no problem — you can eat more than your allotted 4 servings of fruits and vegetables!

And finally, you’ll need to drink water. For good health reasons, you’ll want to drink around 8 glasses of pure water every day — more if you exercise a lot. And speaking of exercise…

The Exercise

No matter how popular the diet is, it’s no good without exercise! The Biggest Loser diet involves plenty of exercise. You’ll start with 30 minutes a day, and as your strength and stamina improves, you’ll work your way up to 90 minutes a day — very doable!

But that doesn’t mean you’ll be jogging on the treadmill for an hour and a half. You’ll need to diversify your training between cardio exercises to burn fat, resistance exercises to build muscle, and interval training to build even MORE muscle.

Why the need for muscle? Simple — every pound of muscle you put on will burn through 10-50 calories of fat per day, even when you’re just resting! That’s 1-5 pounds of fat burned in a year per pound of muscle. And on this diet, you’ll be putting on at least a few dozen pounds of muscle!

The great thing about muscle is that it’s more dense than fat. You might weigh the same, but you’ll look smaller, leaner, and healthier. After all, it’s not just the bright numbers on the weighing scale — it’s also about how you look and feel about yourself!

So go ahead — look for good fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains you can include in your new Biggest Loser, home edition diet! Also, get advice on which cardio, resistance, and interval training routines you can try.

Top 3 Detox Diets For Weight Loss

fitgizmos — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:42:22 +0000

Want to lose weight AND feel healthier at the same time? Then a detox diet may be in order! Weight loss is a wonderful side effect to the detoxification process, since a detox diet involves decreased calorie intake, colon cleansing, and fat burn. Here are three detox diets you may want to consider trying.

#1 – The Lemon Detox Diet

Also known as the “Master Cleanse,” this diet was put on the map by Beyonce, who used it to lose 20 pounds for her role in the movie “Dreamgirls.” Beyonce had to gain the weight back after wrapping up the movie, but you won’t have to!

The lemon detox diet involves staying away from solid food for 10 days, all the while drinking a tasty lemon drink made from lemons, Cayenne pepper, natural maple syrup, and pure water. What you get is a low-calorie, fat-burning, colon cleansing drink you can have anytime of the day.

You’re supposed to drink 8-10 glasses of this special lemonade every day for 10 days. Without any solid foods to process, the body uses the 10 days to purge itself of toxins, waste matter, and other poisons. And, yes, you also stand to lose up to 20 pounds after the 10-day period!

#2 – The Raw Food Diet

We humans were never designed by Mother Nature to rely on instant processed foods. That’s why letting raw food comprise a good chunk of your diet will help your body chemistry get back into balance. Without any toxins from cooked, processed, and manufactured foods, you’ll stand to enjoy improved health soon after adopting a raw food diet.

Raw food also has fewer calories and more nutrients than cooked food. One of these nutrients happens to be fiber — a main ingredient in colon cleansing, and a natural hunger suppressant.

When trying out a raw food diet, make sure all your food is completely fresh. No sense losing weight when it makes you sick, after all!

#3 – The Green Juice Diet

“Green juice” is a generic term for juices and smoothies made primarily out of vegetables (especially green leafy ones). Obviously, such smoothies are the most nutritious, with loads of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to be had.

The green juice diet isn’t a detox diet per se, since you don’t stick to it only for a few weeks. It’s actually more of a lifestyle, in which you make green juices and smoothies an irreplaceable part of your diet. Think about it — if you had a green smoothie every morning, instead of the usual greasy bacon and eggs, you’ll be doing your body a mighty favor!

Green juice is great because blending fruit and vegetables “pre-digests” them, making their nutrients easier for the body to absorb. This leaves more energy for cleansing and fat-burning purposes. And, yes, you’ll be burning a LOT of fat when you replace fatty breakfasts, salty snacks, and soda with green juice!

How A Detox Diet Heals Chronic Ailments

fitgizmos — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 18:45:38 +0000

Are you suffering from chronic ailments, such as headaches, allergies, aching joints, digestive problems, fatigue, and depression? Here’s some news — the pills won’t work for long! If you want to get rid of your chronic ailments, you’ll need to get rid of the root of the problem — TOXINS!

Where Toxins Come From

Toxins are poisonous substances in processed food, air pollution, chemicals, pesticides, etc. If you live in a big city, chances are toxins are everywhere. While modern civilization has introduced many superficial comforts to life, it has also introduced imbalanced, unhealthy lifestyles.

Today, we take in toxins every single day. Now normally, the body has all the systems it needs to cope with the toxin intake. But as the body becomes more toxic, it becomes less able to flush out these poisons — and the resulting imbalance gives rise to the chronic ailments you’ve come to know and hate.

How Toxins Make You Sick

When the body can’t catch up with the toxins you take in each day, bacteria and viruses survive and propagate inside it more easily. Think of the immune system as an army that’s hopelessly outnumbered — it’s putting up a valiant fight, but the enemy is overrunning it at every front.

As our insides get dirtier and more poisonous, we become more susceptible to chronic illnesses like headaches, fatigue, hypertension, and even depression. Pills and other pharmaceuticals can make the symptoms go away, but if the body remains toxic, then the chronic ailments will always, always come back.

How To Detoxify

It’s important to detoxify the body if you truly want to get rid of your chronic ailments for good! And the best way to detoxify is to simply restore the body’s natural way of healing itself, by reverting to an organic plant-based diet (raw vegetables especially) and getting lots of exercise.

There’s just one obvious problem to this approach — not all of us have the time, patience, or discipline to take such a drastic lifestyle change. That’s why most of us may need to settle for the next best thing for the meantime — detox diets!

How Detox Diets Work

As their name implies, a detox diet helps the body detoxify through certain changes in diet. Most detox diets advocate fasting (or minimizing the intake of certain toxic foods). For instance, the lemon detox diet eliminates all solid food for 10 days.

When the body doesn’t have to digest as much solid food as it normally does, it gets a break. The “enemy” stops advancing, and the immune system starts regaining lost ground. The body starts flushing out toxins and waste material, making itself less and less toxic.

There are many different detox diets out there to choose from — pick the one that suits your lifestyle. Most detox diets are best done once every six months. Go right ahead — detoxify and say goodbye to your chronic ailments forever!