Curb your cravings

So how do you stop craving junk food? That’s a question a lot of people struggle with.

One thing to understand is that cravings and hunger are two different things. Cravings can come even when you aren’t hungry. They are specific to one kind of food or another and usually have an emotional attachment. It’s also important to note that cravings are far more common when you are hungry.

So how do you eliminate cravings?

Here are three simple tips to follow:

#1) Don’t give yourself opportunity to give in.
In other words, try to keep whatever you are craving out of your home and work environment. What if you can’t do this? For instance, you might work someplace with vending machines, where that dreaded candy bar is just 75 cents away. In this case just eat a healthy food you enjoy in its place.

One of the reasons for binging is being too restrictive, which often times leads to intense cravings. So the key to overcoming that is to enjoy what you eat.
As an example, if you want a candy bar, try eating dates or honey instead. These are natural sweet alternatives and will usually alleviate your desire for junk food.

#2) Stay full.
While it’s true that cravings aren’t necessarily the result of hunger, as mentioned earlier they do get worse when you are on an empty stomach. So the key is to be full. This is especially true when you are going somewhere where junk food will be available. If nothing else, this will at least reduce the amount you eat overall.

#3) Find another way to alleviate stress.
For many people, cravings only come when they are stressed out. As a result of a lifetime of conditioning, they instantly want junk food for “comfort”. Try something different. Instead of eating, just exercise. This is hands down one of the top methods for eliminating worry. And do it early in the day.
The later you wait, the less likely you are to do it.

#4) Limit your junk food consumption.
Many have found that restricting this to one day a week tends to satisfy the cravings for the rest of the week. You may want to experiment with this.
And assuming you do binge from time to time, it also limits the damage done. This is because your body gets it all out of its’ system in one day.

The bottom line is that when you incorporate one or all of these tips, you will dramatically reduce the amount of junk food you eat. Your health will also improve as a result.

Fat Burning Foods That Really Work

What are the best fat burning foods out there? There are many opinions on this. But one of the first things to keep in mind is that avoiding “fad” diets is key.

What is a “fad” diet?”

Simply any eating habit that cannot be maintained over the long haul is a fad diet. All too many people just get rid of all their favorite foods immediately because they think it will help them lose weight. And often times this does work at first. But eventually they get junk food cravings, either out of boredom or hunger. Then they fall back to their old ways. And in many instances they gain even more weight back than before.

So what are the best fat burning foods?

Some of them are fruits and vegetables. You might want to consider making these the primary source of nutrition in your diet. Many have found that eating more of these foods really boosts their energy levels.

But don’t get too caught up in which kind of fruit and vegetables are the best. While certain ones are slightly better for fat burning, just try and eat a wide variety. Here are five tips to help implement a successful long term “fat burning” diet:

#1) Go organic.
The nutritional content of these foods has proven to be better than non-organic so remember this.

#2) Eat limited amounts of dairy
There is a lot of controversy on this topic. While you shouldn’t go nuts with it, there is some amount of evidence that certain dairy products such as cheese and eggs can help you lose fat. This is because the calcium contained in them helps breakdown the fat cells more thoroughly. Your best bet is to eat moderate portions of low-fat dairy.

#3) Ignore the “low carb” craze.
Carbs are absolutely essential, despite what you’ve heard. Many people are doped into thinking they have to eliminate almost all carbs to lose weight.
This is false. In fact, if you do your energy level will dip dramatically.
But that’s not to say that all carbs are good. You might want to try “slow carb” foods to lose weight. Examples are beans, grains, egg whites, and vegetables.
They tend to take longer to digest than others, which means you will eat less carbs and calories throughout the day while still feeling full.

#4) Stick with whole foods.
These are the best to help you lose fat because they contain the most nutrition. The health benefits of whole food have been well documented. In addition to losing weight you will have more energy and feel better about yourself.

#5) Don’t starve yourself.
This might be the most important thing to remember. How many people do you know who’ve succeeded long term on a starvation diet? Eat smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. This will rev up your metabolism to full speed and keep you consistently burning calories.

To wrap up, basically you just have to remember to eat a sensible healthy diet. Restricting yourself too much with one nutrient or another is NOT healthy.

Resistance training – the key to burning fat fast

Why is resistance training so effective for losing fat? Most people believe that cardio training is the most effective method for dropping fat, but it’s actually one of the least. Resistance training is FAR better.

Think about it. When you go the gym, 95% of the people there are doing slow jogging on treadmills trying to “burn calories.” This should instantly send you a warning signal.

Why is jogging ineffective for burning fat? Because you need intense training for fat loss. Slow jogging certainly doesn’t meet this description.

Why is INTENSE training so important?

Because type 2 muscles need to be your focus if you want to burn as much fat as possible. The type 1 muscles are your endurance fibers. They will help you run a marathon, but the amount of fat you burn by targeting them is extremely limited.

You also need resistance training to enact the type 2 fibers. When you lift a weight or jump into the air, you are enacting your type 2 muscles. These are the muscles that are responsible for explosive movements.

Jogging or walking are not explosive movements. They can be done virtually forever, whereas lifting a heavy amount of weight or jumping extremely high cannot be. The important thing is that you focus on explosive motions that you cannot maintain long term. And as mentioned above, resistance training can also include “body weight only” exercises. Many aren’t aware of this but these are often even more effective than “weight training.”

You burn far more calories with resistance training than with “steady state” exercises In fact the calorie burning ability of non-resistance training is very overrated.

Why?

Because steady state activities are not difficult for the body to cope with. 3500 calories is all that your body burns for 5-10 hours of exercise. This is equal to just ONE pound of fat.

Most people burn around one hundred calories after running one mile, or about 1/35th of a pound. When you look at it this way, you’d have to run around thirty five miles to burn just a single pound.

But how do you do resistance training effectively? Here are three tips to keep in mind:

#1) Make sure it’s INTENSE

Basically any motion you could do for hours on end will NOT improve your fat loss. For instance, if you are jumping make sure you jump as high as possible.

Just jumping 2 inches off the ground—while technically still “resistance training” isn’t intense enough to enact the type 2 muscles necessary for burning fat.

#2) Take time to rest

Be sure that you do it no more than 3 days a week. Anything more will prevent your body from fully recovering.

#3) Keep increasing the resistance

Why? Because this continually challenges your body to go to new levels. Eventually your body can adapt to the amount of weight you lifted.
This means if you just keep lifting the same amount every week, it has less and less effect and your progress will stall. So remember—intense resistance training is the key to dropping your body fat. That’s not to say you should never jog, it just shouldn’t be the major part of your workout.

Whole body exercises For Maximum Fat Loss

What are the best whole body exercises? And why are whole body exercises the best?

Simply because they target more muscles than “isolation” exercises and therefore generate a higher metabolic and hormonal response. This is very important for losing fat, even though it doesn’t get a lot of attention.

Basically the more muscles you can target, the higher your bodies’ hormonal response will be. Also, you will have far more energy when you only focus on one exercise that targets seven different muscle groups, as opposed seven exercises that target just one. By the end of your routine, you will be drained and the last muscle groups will suffer.

So what are the best exercises?

Squats, dead lifts and the bench press are the top three, simply because they target the most different muscle groups. There are many variants of them, but if you do nothing but focus on these three you should see some significant improvement. Many successful bodybuilders only do these so they don’t waste energy on meaningless exercises.

What’s the TRUTH about failure training?

This is where you go until the point where you body can no longer do a repetition in good form. It often gets hyped as the ideal workout for losing fat. But does it live up to the hype?

In many instances it does not. While it does work at first, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that it severely taxes the bodies’ nervous system and ultimately results in total burnout.

The other problem is that you also are not exercising your muscles as much as possible. You see, each of your muscles has a certain amount of fibers.
When you only do one set to failure, you are only exercising them one time. However, when you rest for just two to five minutes between sets your fibers can easily handle another one.

Therefore by doing just one rep you are not working them as hard as you could be. When you do more than one set, you work your fibers more thoroughly.
But don’t forget to lift HEAVY weights.

Why? Because the body is made up of 2 kinds of muscle fibers—type 1 (endurance) and 2 (explosive). What a lot of people aren’t aware of is that your fast twitch or explosive muscles (type 2) are the ones you must focus on for maximum fat loss. There’s only so much fat you can lose by exercising the endurance ones.

How do you focus on the type 2 muscles?

By lifting heavy weights. Lifting lighter weights generally does nothing more than increase your endurance. This does very little for your fat loss.

While there are many different whole body exercises, squats, deadlifts and the bench press should be at least part of your regime. And try to do multiple sets with each. This is more effective than going to muscle failure.

Low Fat Carrot Muffins

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 1/3 cups shredded carrot
2/3 cup fat free milk
2 tablespoons fat free sour cream
1/4 cup egg whites, lightly beaten

Insturctions:

Line muffin pan with papers or spritz with nonstick spray. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, raw sugar, oats, baking powder, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl mix together carrots, milk, sour cream, and egg white. Blend together dry and wet ingredients. Fill each muffin cup a little over half full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. A toothpick or fork inserted in center should come out clean when done. Enjoy!