Fitness and Weight Loss

What is fitness? Fitness has been defined by many people with several words. One of these definitions is that fitness is being able to perform physical activity. It also means having the energy and strength to feel as good as possible. (Debby Golonka, MPH. Source: http://health.yahoo.com/fitness-overview/fitness/healthwise--ftpln.html).

In physical education, fitness has been defined as the ability not only to carry out a physical activity, but also having some energy left in case of an emergency.

This picture is a display of two individuals in two different state of health. The first man with the "dancer" body is in a better health shape because he is physically fit. Unlike the other man whose body composition or shape goes with a question mark. He definitely is at health risk because he is not fit. (Picture source: www.letsdancela.com)

In summary, fitness can simply be said to be a state of being with the ability to perform activities, physical activities and keeping the body in shape.

Benefits of being fit:

Getting more fit, even a little bit, can improve your health. Fitness places the body in a better health shape. It helps to exercise the muscles and also build up the muscles. Fitness also gives the body the desires physical shape, thereby maintaining balance in weight and body posture.

When an individual is fit, such a person derives pleasure physically because fitness makes us feel better during work or leisure.

Medically, fitness helps us burn fats. The excess fats that are stored up in our body are burnt off during these physical activities, giving off energy which the body uses for its numerous activities.

Furthermore, fitness helps to check diseases like coronary disease; examples include heart attack, high blood pressure and other diseases like arthritis, diabetes, obesity and a whole lot more. In fact, the benefits of fitness can be said to be inexhaustible.

HOW TO BUILD UP FITNESS.

Now after considering the overview of fitness, the next thing is to build up a fit body for those who are not physically fit, or maintaining your fitness if you are already fit. We shall now consider different ways to build up fitness and always maintain fitness. Here are some ways you can build up fitness:

1). The beginner's routine: According to Michael Mejia, Men's Health, beginners should start with a circuit routine in which you do 10 to 12 exercises one after the other, 10 to 15 repetitions per set, with little or no rest in between. Do two or three circuits. If you're more advanced, try supersets. In these, you do two exercises back-to-back, rest 60 seconds, and then repeat once or twice. There are many ways to do supersets, but for fat loss, I'd like to see you use as much muscle as possible. One way is to pair exercises that work completely different muscles, such as squats and seated rows

Another exercise is the Flab fighter. This is done in the gym preferably, someplace spacious and without obstacles. Of course within the proper facility. The sequence for this exercise as given by Fitness Online is:

-Put your hands up by your chin and step back with your right leg (a fighter's stance). Throw 10 jabs with your left hand.

-Throw one left jab, followed by one right cross (twist your hips, driving straight ahead with the right hand). Repeat for 20 punches.

-Perform the combination from step 2 again, adding a roundhouse kick at the end with the left leg: Raise your knee to just above your waist, pivot on your right foot and turn your body to the right so your left leg turns 90 degrees. Now snap your foot out, imagining you are kicking an opponent in the side. Repeat the entire combination for 30 total strikes.

-Perform the combination from step 3 again, adding a right hook at the end: Twist your body, swinging your right hand to the left. Repeat the entire combination for 40 total strikes.

-Perform the combination from step 4 again, and then throw a roundhouse kick with your right leg. Repeat the entire combination for 50 total strikes.

All this will take only about two minutes. Rest for 30 seconds, and then repeat all the steps in order up to five more times. This exercise is ideal for weight loss.

2). For muscle toning: To build your muscles and tone them properly, recommended exercises are work-outs at the gyms, weight lifting, push-ups, etc. For guided practice, here is an article from Fitness Online:

The strongest, smartest lifters don't bench-press with their upper arms 90 degrees from their sides. They tuck their elbows in on the descent to get more power and reduce the risk of shoulder injury. Performing the neutral-grip bench press for eight to 12 weeks will help you get comfortable with the technique.

1) Grab dumbbells and lie back on a bench. Squeeze your shoulder blades down and together and arch your lower back. Position the weights at the sides of your chest with palms facing each other.

2) Press the weights straight overhead, keeping your wrists in the same position.

Why It Works
Pressing with the palms facing each other, rather than pointed toward your feet, will naturally cause you to keep your elbows close. Soon, you'll do it with the barbell, too. This takes excess pressure off your shoulder joints and increases your mechanical advantage, allowing you to lift significantly more weight.

Yahoo Health recommends exercises that allow you to do eight to 12 repetitions per set. You can do them as straight sets-complete a set, rest about 60 seconds, do the next set of the same thing, and keep going that way until you've finished all your sets and are ready to move on to the next exercise. f you have more experience, try supersets, but not the way you did them for fat loss. Pair synergistic exercises-two moves that work the same muscles. Usually, the first is a compound move to work a lot of muscles, the second a single-joint exercise to focus on one large muscle. So barbell bench presses might be followed by dumbbell flies. Shoulder presses could lead in to lateral raises

Yahoo Health further advices 2-times weekly routine total bodies work-out for beginners. This requires hard work with little resting in-between exercises, if the desired fitness is to be achieved. If you are not a beginner, it is recommended that you work-out thrice a week to maintain your fitness.

Another important factor is you nutrition. Don't eat junk! Know the percentage of the different contents of your food. Also, always be sure that you never eat foods that are entirely carbohydrate. Add protein in every of your diet, this is the simplest way to keep your metabolism going, loose fat, and support your muscle. Consume preferably unsaturated fats. These fats (unsaturated fats) are without health risks unless saturated fats. These unsaturated fats like cooking oils are heart friendly and when digested turn out as High Density Lipoprotein (HDL). High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) are transported fat and protein by-product from the digestive system to the liver where they are emulsified either to produce energy or stored up in the body. But saturated fats turn out as Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL), also fat and protein by-products but they do not go to the liver rather they go to cardiac arteries, closing them up and hence, various heart problems like arteriosclerosis, myocardial infarction (also called heart attack).
Finally, fitness is never achieved "once a lifetime". You work for it, when you achieve it, you maintain it!

WEIGHT LOSS.

Losing weight with diets: According to Dr. Mao {AskDrMao}, the following foods help to loss weight and are recommended for weight loss:

1. Millet: A well-balanced diet should consist of whole grains instead of refined grains like white rice and pasta, and millet is a beneficial and delicious staple of this category of food. This non-glutinous grain is over 10-percent protein, has high amounts of fiber and B-complex vitamins, and because it isn't an acid forming food, is easy to digest.

2. Asparagus: When losing weight, it's important to favor chlorophyll-rich foods, including asparagus. Asparagus is a nutrient-rich vegetable packed with folate, vitamins A, C, and K, and fiber. Asparagus also contains a carbohydrate known as inulin (not to be confused with insulin) that promotes healthy bacteria in the large intestine - which in turn promotes a healthier digestive function.

3. Pomegranates: Eating a balanced diet to lose weight should include eating fresh fruits, and pomegranates are a wonderful example of a healthy, nutritious fruit that has antioxidant properties and will help prevent cancer. While the benefits of drinking pomegranate juice have gained a lot of attention recently, you will be more likely to lose weight by eating the fruit fresh to increase your fiber intake and keep the calories down.

4. Pine Nuts: Pine nuts are the edible seeds of pine trees and are considered an essential ingredient in the tasty Italian mixture pesto. Chinese medicine uses pine nuts to improve gastrointestinal tract and digestive functions, and pine nut oil is even used for appetite suppression. Pine nuts and other nuts are a tasty part of a well-balanced diet intended for weight loss.

5. Green Tea: It has been found that consuming large amounts of coffee and caffeine can lead to food cravings, increase one's appetite, and induce stress-related eating. Green tea is a wonderful alternative to coffee in that it does provide a little caffeine but also contains beneficial antioxidants. So drink up!

2). Weight loss program: In weight loss programs, I recommend following a therapy from Yahoo Health. According to the article, "the primary principle of losing weight: Calories burned need to exceed calories consumed. These 2 sides of the weight loss/gain equation mean that you have 2 ways to slow and reverse the upward trend toward overweight and obesity: Eat less and exercise more. Here are the steps I advise taking.

Step 1: Journal. Write down as you go along all the foods and liquids you consume - along with how much - for an entire week. Journaling is a nuisance, but it's still the best way to identify how all those calories are mysteriously ending up inside you. Also, once you start writing things down, you'll think twice before you eat something regrettable.

At the end of the week, identify any choices you made that could have been smarter and try not to repeat them. For example, skim milk could be swapped for 2-percent milk. Instead of a bagel and cream cheese, try a scrambled or poached egg over half an English muffin, with a fruit salad.

Step 2: Adjust your consumption. Reduce portions, while always making sure you're eating foods that will sustain you - which means having some protein or fat at every meal. Between meals, eat healthy snacks - never let yourself get too hungry or too tired. Eat slowly, chew your meals thoroughly, and stop when you are satisfied, not stuffed. Leftovers make great meals later!

Step 3: Start moving. Avoid escalators and elevators. Add more stairs and steps whenever and wherever you can. If you head to the mall, walk or jog around for a couple of laps before you start shopping. For those who already have an exercise routine, add another 5 minutes per session or an additional session per week.

Make sure you're getting sweaty or feeling the burn: Leisurely walks do not burn calories - normal walking is actually energy-conserving for human beings, meaning that you burn very few calories when walking long distances at a comfortable speed.

Step 4: Assess your weight-loss goals. First, make sure they are realistic. Don't immediately aim to lose 30+ pounds and don't expect the weight to drop off in the first weeks to months of trying. First, aim to stabilize your weight; stopping the gain is a great achievement in its own right. Losing small amounts of weight is the most achievable and sustainable plan, so start slow. For just about anyone, I suggest aiming to lose 5 pounds in 6 months. (That's right; you heard me. Six months.)

Step 5: Don't weigh yourself more than once a month. Those scales will make you crazy! Besides, scales are pretty useless if you're climbing on and off of them every day. Your weight naturally fluctuates through the course of a single day - never mind the day-to-day swings - so that those changes often merely reflect the ebb and flow of hormones and body fluids, not genuine weight loss or gain.

Instead of trying to assess your goals and progress by using a scale, base your assessment on how you are feeling. More energized? Sleeping better? Better mood? Greater endurance? Gains such as these far exceed the number of pounds lost.

Last, I am often asked by patients for prescription diet aids. If you're hoping to include these pills in your weight-loss plan, I have bad news for you. First, the weight you lose by this method is rarely sustainable. Second, these medications are risky - they can even damage your heart - and are often accompanied by miserable side effects".

So after all I'm in agreement as it is written, "Why suffer in this way and risk harming your health when your original purpose for losing weight was to get yourself healthy? Avoid the pills and save yourself some money. You have all the tools you'll need inside!".

To your perfect health!