Benefits of Living a Healthy Lifestyle

Living A Long & Healthy Life

Today my interest is how we can live a long and healthy life by using a specific lifestyle while having to deal with our daily lives like work, family,relationships, etc. I believe if we follow some rules we can avoid illness in the short, medium and long term.

Today more and more people are health conscious and body conscious, which makes them go and join a gym. They also start eating healthier and start cutting down on bad habits like junk food, alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, and so on. Today we have access to information with the growth of the internet and specific magazines relating to healthy lifestyles.

But still most people ignore the subject and think they can go on with their unhealthy lifestyle and nothing bad will happen to them until their doctor warns them to stop smoking or drinking or eating rich food or even recreational drugs, otherwise they will die soon with a lot of suffering... sad isn't it?!

Be aware that people don't speak and don't tell you how bad they feel, they hide their misery, they act and say that they feel good - "I am great!" people like to say! Also you will never know that when you have a wrong lifestyle you are going the wrong way and you become a candidate for health problems. Do I make sense or not?

A human being is able to live up to 100 years and more if they follow some principles which can become day-to-day habits. Don't accept what we all know about life or don't copy the cool lifestyle from the rich and famous.

First to avoid illness and second to live a longer life than our grand parents or our parents. Start working on your health and invest in longevity - you will be independent and autonomous at 80 or even 90 and more without relying on your children or your nurse.


People Create Success:


They become wealthy, they have friends, spouse or children... they have it all and one day the unthinkable happens, they become sick and their world that was everything for them means nothing.

Friends, spouse or husband children, even their work which made them successful and interesting people can't help them because nothing in this world is more important than our health, but unfortunately you know it only when you lose it! They have no more interest and their only wish and dream is to erase their illness and to be able to have their lives back where it was when life was great!


And now they will tell you health is the most important thing in life - nothing in life is worth more than health but sometimes it's too late - they have to take some strong medication that will make them live longer with side effect and they can't have this challenge anymore to live a healthy long life.

Create The Body You Like

My interest in longevity started when I was 15 and training with weights: when I saw some men looking strong and 10 years younger than their age. From this point on I continued to see more and more men and women not only looking stronger and healthier but improving significantly in comparison with those from 30 years ago.

What drives those people to go on with this healthy lifestyle is yet the concern of living a long and productive life: Avoiding illness and sickness but also the good feeling, the good sensation, the happiness, the level of energy and the certainty of doing right instead of wrong, for their health, and the bonus you get from following a bodybuilding lifestyle and the change of your body.

You become a bodybuilder - not anymore a body destroyer or a body-fatter - you have the possibility to create the body you like to have regarding your genetics and dedication. As long as you have the right training, nutrition, supplementation, sleep, and rest you are heading in the right direction to succeed and become a member of life's long challenge!

There is no doubt now that training with weight strengthens your whole body - Some studies show us that a group of people, between the ages of 70-80, obtain positive results which are: an increase in bone density, more strength, more flexibility, more muscle size, and mental alertness. In addition they may also notice they have more energy, vitality and overall well-being. It's very encouraging for the future of the human race to know that we have a solution.

How to Avoid Common Diet Mistakes

Dieting can be hard. People often consciously and unconsciously make
mistakes. Here are a few diet tips to help you lose weight and to avoid
common mistakes dieters often make.

Eat Regular Meals. Many dieters try skipping meals in order to save
calories but that just leads to unnecessary hunger which can lead to
binging or overeating later. Plan on eating smaller meals at regular
intervals to avoid extreme hunger.

Step2

Start over immediately. Often when someone messes up their diet,
they think, well the day is blown. I will get back on track at the next
meal, or tomorrow or next week. This is a slippery slope. If you
indulge or slip up on your diet get back on track immediately.

Step3

Plan ahead. Nothing derails a diet faster than not having a plan.
Getting home from work after a long day and starving is not the time to
plan a healthy meal. You will be more apt to stop for fast food or
order in. By planning ahead and having healthy meals options available
will help you keep on track with your diet. If you tend to oversleep,
then don't plan on making your lunch in the morning when you know you
will not have time. Plan to make that lunch the night before so you can
grab it on your way out the door.

Step4

Measure your food. Do you really know what a 1 cup serving of a food
looks like? Do you really know what a 3 or 4 oz serving of meat looks
like? We often overestimate our portion sizes. Weigh your food until
you can realistically and honestly gauge food portion sizes.

Step5

Keep a food diary. In addition to weighing your food, you should
keep a food diary. It is very easy to "forget" about the odd bite here
and there when you are not tracking everything you eat. Those calories
add up fast. You are only deceiving yourself if you are not honest
about every morsel that passes your lips.

Step6

Drink water. Often thirst is mistaken for hunger. Drink plenty of
water to avoid extra calories from grazing when you think you are hungry
but you are actually thirsty.

Step7

Exercise. Dieting is all about eating less calories than you burn.
Exercising is a great way to burn more calories.

Step8

Have a sensible diet plan. Going on an extreme diet might help you
lose weight in the short term but if it is not something you can stick
with then you will gain your weight back. Can you only eat cabbage soup
the rest of your life or eat nothing but rice and apples? You should
have a diet plan that allows you to eat a well balanced diet.

Step9

Have realistic goals. Having a goal of losing 100 lbs in 6 months is
not realistic. It will only discourage you. Have a realistic diet
goal. Perhaps plan on losing 1 - 2 lbs a week. This is attainable and
will make you more likely to stick to your goal.

How to Start a Biggest Loser Club

Inspired by the contestants on NBC's Biggest Loser, you might want to get in on the action yourself. Invite friends and family to compete in your very own Biggest Loser Club.

Round up friends and family to participate in your Biggest Loser Club. Send a group email, so nobody feels singled out about their weight. Encourage players to get an OK from their doctors before beginning a weight-loss program.

Step2

Agree on an amount of money that each participant will contribute to the prize pot. Decide if the total amount will go to one winner at the end of the competition, or be split amongst the first, second and third place players. The group should also determine what an appropriate end date for the competition will be. You may want to take photographs of each player for before and after images.

Step3

Select one player's house to host the weekly weigh-ins. The same scale should be used for all weigh-ins throughout the competition. The host should keep a weekly tabulation of the players' weights and calculate each player's percentage of weight loss. If your club coincides with the television program, invite the group over to watch the show, and then weigh in.

Step4

Decide if your group will follow an online or popular eating plan, or if each participant will devise his own diet and exercise plan. Your group may decide to use part of the pooled money to hire a nutritionist or personal trainer to meet with the group and advise them on diet and exercise.

Step5

Plan a party for the final weigh-in, complete with healthy party treats. Remember to take "after" photos so participants can show off their new slim figures.

The 30 Day Shred With Jillian Michaels of the Biggest Loser

I first learned about the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD when I did an online search for a Biggest Loser exercise program. I have been trying to lose weight all my life, but over the past year and a half, I have managed to lose 65 pounds - mostly from cutting back portions. I still have about 120 pounds that I want to lose, so I decided that I wanted to start an intense exercise program similar to what the contestants on The Biggest Loser are given. I figured, what better way to do that than to buy a DVD created by the very trainers from the show?
I found several weight loss forums in which members discussed the 30 Day Shred DVD that Jillian has out. After hearing how Jillian managed to "kick their butts" within the first few minutes of the exercise, I decided this would be a pretty good DVD to start with. I got it the next day.
The 30 Day Shred DVD has 3 increasingly difficult levels. Beginners are of course encouraged to start with Level One and keep doing it until you feel you are ready to move on to Level Two, and then on to Level Three after that.
Level One begins with a brief warmup, then gets right into the exercise. It is a fast paced 27 minute routine with no rests in between. The focus is on circuit training with a rotation of 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abdominal exercise.
Jillian starts you off with pushups, then moves on to lunges. The cardio for Level One includes jumping jacks, jump rope and punches.
I have only done Level One of the 30 Day Shred so far, but I can tell you that you will sweat, you will groan, and you will definitely feel that you got your money's worth with this DVD. There is little doubt that if you stick with this exercise program for 30 days or more, you will be in the best shape of your life! Oh, and be prepared to feel "the burn" the next day after your first workout! No pain, no gain!

Flush Fat With These 4 Detox Drinks

When people gain fat, they don't get more fat cells, but the existing fat cells get bigger. This can happen because of hormonal imbalances, lack of exercise and foods that can make your body store fat instead of flushing it.
Fat cells can store "excess energy," like excess nutrients from overeating. They can even store toxic compounds, like organochlorines, from pesticides along with other chemicals, which are not easily broken down by your body.
If you want to lose fat, or the fatty look, you must do two things. First you must shrink the fat cells. The second is to keep your lymphatic system in good working order.
Your lymphatic system is a type of circulatory system. It transports white blood cells through your body while transporting waste to organs of detoxification or elimination.
Your lymphatic system must work efficiently so that toxins leave your body, not just change locations. These are some of the beverages that can help.
Grapefruit Juice - Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice is one of the best cleanser's for your lymphatic system. Grapefruits contain high amounts of Vitamin C, which helps your body naturally detoxify.
In addition, grapefruits are high in phytonutrients called limonoids - in particular limonin. Limonin is a compound that helps promote the formation of glutathione-S-transferase, a detoxifying enzyme. This enzyme causes the liver to render toxins to be easily excreted from the body. These compounds are also work as powerful antioxidants.
Grapefruit juice can increase the activity of liver enzymes. In fact, it helps with Phase I and Phase II detoxification. This is important since some foods only help the body with Phase I detoxification. If unbalanced and left incomplete, these half-neutralized toxins can be more hazardous to your body.
Grapefruit juice will help your liver detoxify and clear harmful carcinogens from your body. Not only is this a healthy preventive measure, but when your liver is working the way it should, it is more efficient at burning fat - a job it may put on hold if it is over burdened.
Cranberry Juice - Pure cranberry juice is a natural fat flushing drink. It must be 100% pure cranberry juice without anything added. (Check the label, you might be surprised.)
Cranberry juice contains high levels of organic acids. When taken on a regular basis, these help the body dissolve fatty deposits.
Cranberry juice has been found in research to inhibit certain strains of bacteria from sticking to red blood cells or mouth cells which can cause them to linger in the body. In addition, it helps block a certain bacteria from sticking to cells causing urinary tract infections. This raises the body's ability to flush the bacteria out of the system more easily.
Green tea - Green tea is one of the most famous fat flushing drinks. Like cranberry juice, green tea is extremely high in antioxidants. It has been known to help many dieters lose belly fat more quickly when taken 2-3 times a day. In 1997, researchers found that a component of green tea, an antioxidant called EGCG, is very powerful at limiting the negative side effects of a fatty diet and even smoking.
The Lemon Flush - Make this drink with spring water, juice from ¼ lemon, 1 Table spoon of grade B maple syrup and a dash of cayenne pepper. Make the water as hot as you can drink it and add the ingredients. Sip this drink 1-6 times per day to help flush fat and other toxins from your body.
Grade B Maple Syrup is loaded with vitamins and minerals to help maintain blood sugar during a fast or diet. Lemon juice helps break up hardened material in the joints and muscles, helps clear the kidneys and dissolves toxins and congestion all throughout your body and lymphatic system. Some herbalists claim that cayenne pepper is the most powerful herb in the world. It helps your intestines move out waste, speeds up metabolism, helps build heart tissue, and has been used to treat diseases of the circulatory system.
Consuming certain beverages can help your body perform the two jobs of fat loss more efficiently. These drinks can help your body remove waste from the fat cells and keep your lymphatic system clear and ready to transport toxins out of your system. They can help turn any weight loss program into a fat flush program.

How to Lose Weight on the Biggest Loser Diet

The Biggest Loser Diet is a successful diet that was developed from the eating plans portrayed on the popular television reality show, "The Biggest Loser." The contestants on the show lost large amounts of weight and achieved long term weight loss by following the diet.

Eat many whole foods. Whole foods are foods that have not been processed. Whole foods include whole grains, fruits and vegetables that have not been chemically modified.

Step2

Reduce your number of calories. The Biggest Loser Diet is a reduced calorie eating plan. The fewer calories you eat, the more weight you lose. However, you need to take in at least 1200 calories a day.

Step3

Eliminate foods that have trans fat. Trans fatty foods can ruin any diet and are found in junk foods and fast food menu options.

Step4

Decrease the number of foods that you eat that contain sugar and white flour. Foods with these ingredients also cause you to gain weight. Instead, consume lean protein, fruits and vegetables.

Step5

Opt for lower fat dairy options. Yogurts, cheese and milk should either be a low-fat or non-fat versions.

Step6

Drink low calories beverages. You can have water, diet soda, diet iced teas and flavored waters while following the Biggest Loser Diet.

Jump Roping is a Great Form of Cardio Exercise

I don't jump rope anymore. But I should start again. Just like anything else that is good for you. Building a habit is key to long term success. Jumping rope is no different.
What I remembered about jumping rope that it was extremely hard. The first time I started, I couldn't jump rope for more then 30 seconds before I was tired.
Jump roping seems like such an easy exercise. When you were little you saw little girls do it. Maybe you use to do it yourself. But boy is it hard when you get older.
Girls tends to have more stamina then guys. Maybe jump roping proves it. Not saying guys don't jump rope, but when you think about jump roping and kids, you think of it as a girl activity.
Jump roping is really hard core. If anyone comes to mind when I think about jump roping, then it has to be Rocky Balboa. When he was training for his fights, he use to jump rope like crazy.
I never realized how difficult it was. I thought I would be able to jump rope for 30 minutes straight with no problem. I couldn't even last 30 seconds!
Other then the fact that I was always messing up at first, being exhausted was one of the key things I noticed.
I kept at however, because Jump Roping is one of the few activities that you can do in the house, that's similar to jogging and you don't have to buy a machine. I believe I got the exercise jump rope at WalMart for $3.
So I made a commitment to jump rope every morning. For 5 minutes. That might not sound like a lot, but if you are a beginner jump roper, it could seem like an eternity.
It's not the exhaustion, it your legs. You will use legs in your muscle that you never knew you had. It well hurt.
But, after a week of doing this. Jump roping for 5 minutes every morning got much easier. Your legs doesn't hurt as much.
I later pushed myself to 6 minutes.
In the morning jump roping really helps raise your heart rate and get you started for the day. It's a great inexpensive cardio exercise you can do literally 1 min after you wake up. It'll help you get out of bet in the morning and ready to start your day.

How to Achieve Weight Loss If You Can't Exercise

Weight loss is a sore subject, right? You want to lose weight but you can't exercise. Maybe you've been injured in an accident or perhaps you're too heavy to safely exercise. You might be feeling like it's a hopeless situation. You need (or want) to lose weight but without being able to get on the treadmill or hit the walking track, you're thinking you'll have to stay the size and weight you are right now. That isn't true. To jump start your metabolism, curb your appetite, and start melting those pounds away, all you have to do is follow the steps I'll be addressing below. By spending a few dollars and dedicating some time and flexibility into your daily regimen, you'll see results that will have you skipping down the road of weight loss success!

Take the pen and paper and write down your goals. If you have a visual of what you're wanting to accomplish, it will help you to stay focused and succeed to lose weight. Also write down the benefits of losing weight. Write down anything else you think of. It could also be beneficial to keep a food journal. Seeing what you put into your mouth can be a big wake up call and help you reach your weight loss goal.

Go to the health food store. Purchase organic apple cider vinegar with Mother. ("Mother" simply means that the vinegar is not processed and the living enzymes remain intact.) This will cost between $3 and $5. Not a huge investment for something so precious as your health and self-esteem. (Not everyone suffers low self-esteem from being overweight. But if you are, you'll realize that spending a few dollars to feel better about yourself is a small price to pay.) What are you going to do with organic apple cider vinegar, you ask? You're going to drink it every day, religiously, to curb your appetite, promote a healthy bowel, give you glowing skin, and start melting that fat right off your body!

Recipe for organic apple cider vinegar weight loss drink:

Put 1 teaspoon organic apple cider vinegar in 4-8 ounces of water. Add
1 packet of Stevia Balance packet. (Stevia Balance is a healthy, natural sweetener that helps balance your blood sugar and can help you lose weight). Add ice if you'd like, stir, and enjoy! (It is similar in taste to Lemonade in that the tartness of the vinegar balances out with the sweetness of the Stevia.)

Alternately, if you prefer hot drinks you can add 1 teaspoon of the organic apple cider vinegar to a cup of hot water and a drizzle of (raw) honey or Stevia Balance packet.

While you're at the health food store, pick up a box of organic green tea. Make yourself a cup of hot tea each morning before you eat. You can also drink it (hot or cold) throughout the day. Several cups per day is perfectly safe. It will curb your appetite, help melt away fat, help your metabolism, and also helps fight cancer and disease!

Go to the grocery store. Choose your favorite vegetables. Don't like vegetables? Try at least one or two. Work in raw foods whenever possible. By limiting your intake of processed foods and beverages, you'll discover that pounds come off a lot easier.

Start eating organic, omega eggs. These are a wonderful source of protein that are rich in nutrients and will help your heart, skin, hair, and overall health. If you eat a healthy protein for breakfast - such as an organic, omega egg - you'll notice that your appetite is held over quite nicely until lunchtime. Most people who eat eggs for breakfast feel more energized throughout the morning as well.

Be creative with snacks, lunches, and dinners. Mix veggies with proteins. Snack on raw nuts and seeds. They're filling, nutritious, and healthy for you!

5 Cardio Workouts to Burn Fat

Everything you know about cardio is about to change. You're about to discover the truth about 5 cardio workouts to burn fat and lose more belly fat in less workout time. Let's start by looking at the old, outdated way of burning fat.
Cardio Workout #1 to burn fat: Slow cardio
The first cardio workout to burn fat is "Old School Cardio". For years, we've been fooled into thinking that we need long, slow, boring cardio workouts to burn fat. However, too many men and women slave away on the cardio machines for 40, 60 and even 90 minutes per workout without burning fat. How is this possible?
To be honest, I don't know exactly why it doesn't work, but two recent research studies found that women doing 40-60 minutes of low intensity cardio, 3-5 days per week, did not lose belly fat after at least 12 weeks of cardio. Based on those results, slow cardio is not one of the best cardio workouts to burn fat.
In fact, in one of those studies, researchers tested high-intensity cardio, and found that high-intensity cardio was able to burn fat.
Cardio Workout #2 to burn fat: High-intensity cardio
The only problem is that high-intensity cardio requires you to work as hard as you can until you burn at least 400 calories in a workout. That will take you at least 40 minutes - so while this is one of the better cardio workouts to burn fat, it's still not the best.
A better approach is to use interval training. This is the third cardio workout to burn fat.
Cardio Workout #3 to burn fat: Interval training cardio
In a study from Australia that compared 2 cardio workouts to burn fat, subjects doing 3 interval training workouts per week lost a significant amount of belly fat while another group doing 40 minutes of slow cardio per week did not burn belly fat.
So interval training is a much better workout choice for fat loss. To do interval training, you do a normal warm-up, and then you alternate between hard exercise and easy exercise, then you follow with a cool down. This routine only takes twenty minutes.
Here's a sample of the interval cardio workouts to burn fat. Do a 5 minute warm-up, and then exercise for 1 minute at a pace that is 10-20% harder than your normal cardio intensity. After that 1 minute, decrease your exercise pace all the way down to cool-down level. Repeat that hard-easy cycle 5 more times. Finish with 3 minutes of cool-down.
Cardio Workout #4 to burn fat: Tabata Interval cardio
Since interval training became popular, personal trainers have been looking for other short cardio workouts to burn fat. A study from Japan used something that is known as the "Tabata Protocol", and many trainers believe this is even better than cardio and regular intervals. The fourth cardio workout to burn fat is the Tabata Interval program.
I'm not convinced it is better than regular intervals, but it is a heck of a hard way to do a fat burning workout. After a warm-up, you 20 seconds of hard work followed by 10 seconds of recovery. Repeat that 8 times. This fat burning workout takes only 4 minutes!
Cardio Workout #5 to burn fat: Bodyweight circuit cardio
Finally, the fifth cardio workout for fat burning is bodyweight circuit training. Like intervals and the Tabata workouts, bodyweight circuit training is not really "cardio", however, these are the three better cardio workouts to burn fat.
Whatever you want to call bodyweight cardio, here's how it works.
First, you start with a quick, easy bodyweight exercise, such as Jumping Jacks.
After that, alternate between 3 lower-body and 3 upper-body bodyweight exercises, using squats, pushups, lunges, pulling exercises like rows or chinups, split squats, and total body ab exercises like mountain climbers.
Finally, finish off the 8 exercise circuit with a tough total body exercise like jumps, burpees, or running in place. Now that's fat burning cardio!
Those are 5 cardio workouts to burn fat. Only two are "traditional", but those 2 are the longest, and least effective. The shorter fat burning cardio workouts are the best way to burn belly fat fast.

10 Motivational Tips to Enhance Your Energy

10 Motivational Tips to Enhance Your Energy!!!

By: Richard Chan

info@flex-fitness.com

Last week, I was at a convention with old friends who were in the field of fitness and athletics. The past few months my training has been sub-par with my hectic schedule. Anytime I gain momentum exercising I would have to disrupt the consistency of my own routine due to the scheduling of people I train.

In this profession we are so busy helping others that we tend to forget about taking care of our own health. It's all about balance and this is something I've tackled a little better over the years since it can be a challenge if you don't make it a priority. Just seeing the condition of my colleagues has always put a reminder that you should also be on top of your game. I always thrive on a friendly competition and I look forward to seeing them once or twice a year to keep me on my toes.

Personally, this is the only thing that really keeps my energy levels up when I think about it because for me it is motivational to be in top conditioning when interacting with others in the same industry. Now that I've given you an example what keeps me motivated. Let me discuss 10 ways you can enhance your energy; it has given me dramatic changes as well.

1. Know The Difference Between Knowing And Doing

The majority of us know what we must do to achieve our dreams but we sometimes don't move forward with the endless excuses or reasons. Our excuses range from being busy, we don't have the money to continue, we don't have the patience, and we don't have the talent or skills, and so on.

In actual fact, with all these excuses we've probably burnt out a good portion of our energy just thinking of those excuses. Put away those excuses and write down what you'll be doing to achieve that goal.

Write down that message that motivates you. Carry it with you so you can look at the message and take heart in the knowledge. Leave these notes in key places such as your house, your car, or a locker before you step into the gym. When you begin to slip into the "excuses mode", pull out that message so you can be back on track!

2. Get A Picture Of A Physique You Hate

What I personally like to do is display photos or pictures of you that you hate or imagine you would look like if you stopped exercising. Grab a picture of yourself that you hate the most and carry it around with you, such as your wallet or somewhere you can access it.

3. Download Audio Clips

I'll sometimes download audio clips and listen to them while I am training. Some of my clips would come from the movie "300". A quote I enjoy very much is from King Leonidas declaring "Madness... This is Sparta", or "Spartans tonight we dine in h*ll".

You can also listen to clips of someone yelling at you for being lazy. The movie "Full Metal Jacket" comes to my mind when Sergeant Hartman is blasting down your throat to get back into the gym. What a great motivator boosting your energy levels.

4. Eat The Right Foods For Recovery & Energy

An important aspect is your diet which can develop or increase your endurance. By knowing you are eating the correct foods to help stimulate your body's recovery and energy levels gives you an edge and greater confidence in yourself.

5. Get A Visual Aid

Visual aids can be another motivator for some people if you need an additional push to head to the gym. For the single people like me, it's always good to have a sexy picture of a girl or guy motivating you to work hard in achieving that good body you want. Heck, don't you want to look good at the beach and impress the opposite sex?!

6. Use Aromatherapy

Using aromatherapy promotes your health, well being, and vitality by the use of plant essences. These natural plant essences are also known as essential oils and have been used by man for their therapeutic benefits in cosmetics, perfumes, medicines, and massage oils.

The oils deliver a source of energy that includes physical and spiritual affects. The physical side effects are contributed by components of essential oils (the chemistry, biophysics, etc): antiseptic, antibacterial and antiviral, to name just a few.

On the spiritual side of things - energy is present in all organic life. It flows through us all; it is also known as Qi, Chi (Chinese), or Prana (Sanskrit) - the life-force that emanates from all living things. You can use essential oils in everyday life through inhalation or oils for a relaxing massage. You can also use essential oils because it harmonically affects your physical, emotional, or spiritual level and thereby increases your energy.

7. Get Enough Sleep

This next point isn't anything new and we just sometimes forget to take care of our body. Resting your body allows you to recuperate and workout effectively for your next routine. Getting adequate sleep in conjunction with a nutritious diet will provide a foundation of energy and productivity.

8. Write Down Your Progress

Having a log book or diary can help you stay motivated by seeing if you've progressed from your previous numbers a few weeks ago. Concentrate on your strengths rather than your weaknesses. Concentrate on your potentials. By building on the positive things it will translate to your inner confidence.

9. Don't Forget To Breathe

A person's performance can dramatically increase if you were to understand proper breathing. Our breathing mechanism has changed over the years due to stress in our life. This change has increased the amount of tension in our body.

When we are born we naturally breathe through our diaphragm which is also called fetal breathing or natural breathing. The natural way of breathing is when you inhale and your stomach inflates and as you exhale your stomach deflates. We build the amount of stress in our life by the time we become an adult - this creates tension which also goes into our mind & thoughts and carries over to our face, neck, and shoulders.

Over time, we carry so much tension that it eventually effects our breathing mechanism. We then breathe shallow breaths and use only 1/3 of our diaphragm (also known as upper breathing) due to this. We need to relax the upper body and letting it sink or flow downwards to our body.

This is specifically important to any form of exercising or heavy lifting. The diaphragm is the most important muscle for lifting and the strongest as well. The diaphragm works as a pump, up into the lungs and to the remainder of the body.

Learning to fill the lungs from the bottom is important for your training. Let me explain how you should breathe properly. By simply relaxing your shoulders at a sitting or standing position with shoulder width apart. Place fingers tips into the soft part of your abdomen and be relaxed.

When inhaling, the muscles of your diaphragm push out and as you exhale your fingers go back in. So as you inhale you will inflate and exhaling you will deflate.

Proper breathing plays an important part in protecting your spine when you lift. It compresses your surrounding core area and contracts when you lift weight. By keeping it stable the contraction is generated throughout your body. Try lifting heavy without a belt and you truly know you've mastered your breathing.

10. Involve Your Mind, Body & Spirit

To get maximum results, people need to involve their mind, body, and spirit. Qi Gong and Yoga is an ancient system that has been around for centuries.

Qi Gong will help re-boost your energy levels helping you feel recharged. It can be practiced once or twice daily and will prepare you for your exercising. It will also assist those recent or old nagging injuries that will eventually be gone. Simply practicing Qi Gong will help promote the blood flow (Qi) within your body.

Anyone has the capability of becoming a healer to oneself or to others. Knowing you have this type of energy gives you a new profound confidence and allos you to do things more confidently. Drop me a line and I'll be glad to explain further how you can build Qi within your body!

Conclusion

Alright, I have to confess to everyone, being competitive isn't the only thing that motivates me. It's time for me to do that late night work out and I need an additional boost of energy. Ok, there are just too many selections and I just don't know which one to choose? Since it is a Wednesday I'll choose that nice picture of Jessica Alba from the Fantastic Four. Tomorrow... Scarlett Johansson!

Fun Ways to Do Aerobics

Aerobic exercise uses exercise to increase the heart rate for an extended period of time. It has been around for a while and the routines can sometimes become a little boring. To keep aerobics exciting here are some fun ways to do aerobics that will keep you exercising. Try varying your aerobics by adding some of these routines into your workout schedule.
Treadmills - A treadmill is an excellent way to walk or run. The treadmill provides a workout that can be done indoors in any weather and allows you to progress at your own pace. Treadmills are popular and are available at all gyms and fitness clubs. Many are now made for home use so you can fit your routine into your daily schedule. Some include a heart rate monitor to help you reach and maintain your peak performance.
Steps - Steps are useful tools to incorporate into a workout. It makes the workout a little less tedious because you are actually stepping up and down at times, adding some fun to the routine. They are available at most aerobic and fitness centers and are also sold for home use. You can get them in one or two-step sizes to suit your needs. If you have stairs in your house these can also work for this exercise/
Pole - The pole is a relatively new tool for workouts. A pole is used to help make certain moves. It can be added to a regular aerobic workout to make it more interesting and challenging.
Hip-Hop Dance - Hip-Hop is a great way to aerobically move to the music. The rhythm of most hip-hop music is easily adapted to aerobic movements and together the routine can be a phenomenal way to have a fun aerobic exercise.
Water Aerobics - Water aerobics are a fun way to break up the monotony of a regular aerobic routine. Water exercise is much easier on the joints and movements are slower and more regulated, making the exercise more fluid. This is great if you are new to aerobic exercise regime or have physical limitations. It's also a great way to exercise outside in the pool or when you are on vacation. You'll get some sun while you exercise!
Jump Rope - Jumping rope is great aerobic exercise. It can be easily done at home using an inexpensive jump rope. You can create your own routine to music to make it an uplifting experience. This is a good exercise to do as you can set your own pace. Start off gently and work up to your desired speed and time frame.
Bicycling / Spinning - Done outdoors, bicycling is a wonderful way to incorporate the outdoors into an aerobic routine. You can ride as far as you want to, starting slowly and working your way up as your strength and stamina increase. Spinning is done inside and is an entertaining way to combine cycling in a class setting.
Tae Bo / Kickboxing - For something different try a tae bo or kickboxing class. This aerobic activity is a fun alternative to the usual aerobic classes. There are plenty of videos available as well so you can practice your tae bo routine at home as well as at the gym.

Detoxing the Liver - Does Lemon Juice Detox the Liver?

Did you know that a seemingly ordinary substance, lemon juice can help to detox your liver? The liver is one of the most essential organs in the body. Liver failure is often fatal. It is well known that drinking excessive alcohol will damage the liver. But do you know why this is so? The liver is the organ that cleanses the body of toxins. Having a well functioning liver means that potentially harmful substances can pass out of your body. So when we think about detoxifying the body, we have to think about the liver, since this organ is what actually does the detoxifying.
Lemons are not often thought of as a fruit, or even a food. Most people would not sit down and eat a lemon they way they might an orange or apple --too bitter. We tend to think of lemons as a flavoring, maybe something to add as a garnish on top of a salad, or mixed alcoholic beverage. Or perhaps lemonade, with enough sugar to offset the bitterness. Lemons, however, are one of the most beneficial fruits, or foods of any sort, that nature has provided for us.
One interesting fact about lemons is that, although they taste very acidic, they actually have an alkalizing effect on the body. When we speak of food being acidic or alkaline, the important thing is how they effect the body after digestion. Lemons, along with some other apparently acidic substances, such as apple cider vinegar, has an alkalizing effect, which is usually beneficial in terms of detoxing the body. I say "usually," because most people's diets are overly acidic and it helps to balance this out with alkaline foods. In the rare cases of people whose diets are overly alkaline, consuming additional lemons would not be beneficial. But, unless you have an extremely spartan health food diet, such as eating strictly raw foods, vegan or fruitarian, your diet is most likely overly acidic.
There are several ways to consume lemon, given that you probably don't want to eat whole lemons. You can drink lemon teas. There are prepared herbal teas with lemon, but it's better to supplement this by squeezing fresh lemon into it or adding lemon juice. You can similarly add lemon to water. Drinking more water is another fundamental principle of detoxing, so if you drink, say eight glasses of water per day and squeeze a slice of lemon into each one, you'll be multiplying the detoxifying effect. You can also squeeze fresh lemon, or lemon juice into homemade salad dressings.
Lemon juice, or fresh lemon, can indeed help detox the liver and the whole body. Don't underestimate the power of this under-appreciated fruit.

6 Ways To Get More Out Of Your Daily Life!

Almost everybody finds it difficult to arrange time to train. That is why in this article I have listed six ways to get more out of each day. In addition to training, reading this article will help you in your daily chores too.

This may sound irrelevant, but it is not. The less you have to struggle with your daily chores, the more you have time to train and the better results you will get.

1. Get Organized

Organization is important. Anyone, who wants to be effective, must organize each day. First, you must think about your goals. The world is moving faster than before, and that is why it is important to recognize the things that you want to achieve. You cannot concentrate on everything therefore you need to decide what are your primary goals.

After you have prioritized what is most important in your life you can organize your days. The before mentioned can be done pretty easily, but the hard part is yet to come.

Now, there is no point in making plans, if you do not stick with those plans. Therefore you should never deviate from your routine. Commitment is the key word. If you want to be successful at life, you need to co-ordinate your time well and you ought to have a proper schedule.

2. Write It Down

Write down your goals and everything that must be done to achieve those goals. You ought to do this in order to keep a clear mind. It may sound old-fashioned and boring, but just do it. It is worth it. Average person has so many things to remember in an ordinary day that it is almost impossible to learn them by heart.

By writing down your goals, you can check what needs to be done and what you have already taken care of. Easy, yet, effective.

It does not matter whether you make these notes in the morning or before going to sleep, but there is no way you can accomplish your goals if you do not do it. Try it, you will be surprised to see how well it works.

3. Avoid Temptations

There are so many things that can distract your attention that it is good to think about them for a while. For instance telephones, stereos, Internet, DVD players, movies, friends and your family are all time-consuming and they can make your day a failure.

Okay, so does this mean that a person, who wants to be successful, must abandon all the above mentioned things? No, it does not. Just do not think about your friends or watching TV until you have finished your duties.

Your friends will not vanish in one day and you can call your mother later. Make no excuses - you must accomplish your objectives, otherwise you have failed. Again commitment is the key. So do not let temptations get in your way!

4. Search For Other Success-Orientated People

Batman has Robin, Ronaldo has Beckham, Lucky Luke has Jolly Jumper and the list goes on and on - almost all the successful persons have their partners. There is no point in trying to do everything by yourself. This does not mean that a partner would somehow make your task easier - he or she can just drop helpful hints to you and it is up to you to decide whether you take the person's hints or not.

Utilize your family and friends during your most hectic times, and help them in return when your load is lighter. This is something that some of you will find hard to do, but you just need to trust your closest friends and family members. You cannot do it all by yourself!

It is common knowledge that, for instance, all the most successful businessmen have caring wives/girlfriends. Some think that they do not play big parts in their husbands� lives, but - trust me - they do! They take care of the house chores and all the other stuff, so that their spouses can concentrate on working. This is something that ought not to be belittled!

5. Combine

This is something that sounds so easy, but still so many of us do not understand it. Lack of combining is the reason why ordinary people run across the streets over and over again just like headless chickens.

To illustrate my point, let's take my last Friday. I was in a hurry to go to a food store, and I was of the opinion that I have no time to write down the other things that I must do. I ran to the supermarket and bought all the goods that I considered significant. When I returned to my apartment, I noticed that I had forgotten half of the goods that I was supposed to buy. Irritatingly enough, most of the goods that I forgot to buy were in a store next to the supermarket.

Does this sound familiar to you too? Well, it should not. I learned from my mistake, and you do not have to make the same mistake to learn from it. Learn from my mistake and combine your chores! You can also combine workouts, when you are short of time. After all, it is something is better than nothing.

6. Be Realistic

Whatever you do, be realistic. This does not mean that you should underestimate your skills. Set your goals high and then do your utmost to reach them. If you work hard enough, you won’t fail.

Separate your goals from your daydreams, so that you know what you really want. You need to find the balance between realism and optimism, so that you can avoid setting your goals either too high or too low.

The professionals do it, so why should not you?

All the professional bodybuilders and fitness models conform to those above mentioned "rules of succeeding", so why should not you? Some of those may sound difficult to follow and irritating to obey, but, oddly enough, they make your life easier. They do not make your life harder in any way, in contrast, these "rules" relieve stress and help you achieve more successful life.

Try it for a week. What do you got to lose? Nothing. So get organized, write down your goals, avoid temptations, search for other success-orientated people, combine your chores and be realistic. All this so that you can train properly and get better results.