Keeping Fit is A Daily Battle

If your water bottle travels with you everywhere, sip on this thought: Drinking water isn’t the only way to stay hydrated.
You can get a lot of the liquid you need from the food and beverages you eat and drink every day.

Food can significantly affect your daily fluid needs. In fact, you can obtain much of the liquid you need from the food and beverages (other than water) you eat and drink every day.

What you really need

Water is an important nutrient that composes 50 to 60 percent of your body weight, and it also helps transport other nutrients within the body. Yet because the body doesn’t store water, you have to replenish the supply. How much do you need? For years, we’ve been told to drink eight glasses of water a day for optimal health. But that one-size-fits-all prescription has given way to a more flexible approach. Health experts have found that fluid requirements vary from person to person, and for many of us, the best way to stay adequately hydrated is to use thirst as a guide.

Several factors influence your need for water, including climate, muscle mass, physical activity, and diet. (People who have more muscle need more water — that’s why men generally have higher fluid requirements than women.)

Food, often overlooked as a water source, can be a rich supply of fluid. On average, it provides 20 percent of the fluid we need — and far more if you choose water-rich fare. That translates to about two cups for the typical female and three cups for most men each day; most people require a total of roughly 11 to 15 cups of water daily, according to the Institute of Medicine.

Food aids hydration in other ways, too. Since sipping a beverage helps moisten and wash down food, eating encourages us to drink more liquid. That’s why we consume most of our beverages with meals. Food also provides minerals, like sodium and potassium, that help our bodies hold on to water, so the liquids we consume with — or in the form of — food are better retained than those we drink between meals.

Obviously, cooking affects a food’s moisture content.

“People don’t think about water as such, but it really is a major ingredient,” says food scientist Shirley Corriher, author of “CookWise: The Secrets of Cooking Revealed.” “Water can be a vital part of a dish simply because it provides a medium for food to cook in without searing or burning.”

Just think about water’s critical role in preparing grains and starches such as pasta, couscous, rice, and hot cereals. When we cook these foods in boiling water, their starch granules soak up water, causing them to swell and soften (and become edible). This increases their fluid content as much as sixfold, transforming them from one of the driest foods to one of the wettest.

Cooking can make other foods lose small amounts of fluid.

“Meat is packed with water, and that water is retained in a network of proteins,” says Harold McGee, Ph.D., author of “On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.” “But when you heat those proteins, they coagulate. That’s the equivalent of squeezing a sponge, so you force moisture out of the food.” Cooking meat causes it to release about 20 to 30 percent of its original water content.

But because foods like meat, poultry, and fish are inherently rich in water, they still contribute to our overall fluid needs, even when cooked. Consider a juicy sirloin steak. Raw, a four-ounce serving contains 2.5 ounces of water. After broiling, that steak supplies 2.2 ounces of water. Other foods are nearly immune to the effects of heat. For example, while vegetables often soften when cooked, they rarely loose a meaningful amount of water.

Caffeine considerations

You may have heard about the dehydrating effects of caffeine. But leading health authorities including the Institute of Medicine and the American College of Sports Medicine say that’s a myth. While caffeine does signal our kidneys to rid our bodies of excess water, it does so for only a short time, so we still retain more fluid than we lose after sipping a caffeinated beverage.

The Institute of Medicine reports caffeinated beverages contribute to our daily water needs as much as noncaffeinated drinks. In a study published in 2007 in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, when researchers asked cyclists to bike for two-plus hours under hot, humid conditions, they found a caffeine-infused sports drink was as hydrating as a traditional sports drink.

Thirst or dehydration?

You’re thirsty. Does that mean you’re dehydrated? Not necessarily.

“Thirst kicks in when a person is approximately 1 percent dehydrated,” says Ann Grandjean, Ed.D., FACN, executive director of the Center for Human Nutrition in Omaha, Nebraska. “At two percent dehydration, thirst becomes more intense, and dry mouth occurs at three percent.” CookingLight.com: The benefits of water and how much you really need

Certainly, dehydration can make you thirsty. But true dehydration doesn’t occur until you’ve lost more than two percent of body weight. That’s about three pounds for a 150-pound woman. Dehydration makes blood more concentrated, causing sensors in the brain to signal the body to drink more. As we drink, our blood becomes more diluted and these signals subside. The bottom line: Thirst doesn’t always equal dehydration, but it does mean it’s time to drink up.

Health News Motivation

Ab Machines are not the answer to a slimmer waistline.

Ab machines are being advertised everywhere these days, but they are most commonly advertised on late night infomercials.

These infomercials are largely aimed at tricking the public to believe that they can “spot reduce” their stomach by doing a few ab exercises each day.

You’ve seen the infomercials – so you know what we’re talking about.

These infomercials usually have a bunch of super-healthy fitness models walking around with perfect abs — and they tell you that they owe their great looking abs to whatever “ab machine” that they’re trying to sell to you.

These fitness models usually have a “smile” on their face as they demonstrate the ab machine for you, and they do this so that you’ll believe that it’s “fun and easy” to use their ab machine.

However, what these super-healthy fitness models don’t tell you is that they had great looking abs even before they used an ab machine.

Most of those fitness models were born with super-lean bodies, and this means that they would have great looking abs no matter what.

THE TRUTH ABOUT AB MACHINES

The truth is that ab machines do work to strengthen your ab muscles, but that’s all they do. They strengthen your ab muscles, but they do not make your waistline slimmer — see the difference?

Ab machines cannot make your stomach THINNER or SLIMMER – they can only make your ab muscles STRONGER.

You see, even if you have the strongest ab muscles in the world, it’s still possible to have a huge waist at the same time.

In fact, just look at football players for a perfect example of this. Football players have some of the strongest ab muscles on the planet (you could almost hit their stomach with a sledgehammer and not hurt them) —- but yet they are also some of the most overweight athletes on the planet.

This is because they have super strong ab muscles, but those ab muscles are buried beneath layers of fat tissue.

This fact PROVES that ab machines will only give you stronger abs, but they won’t give you a SLIMMER STOMACH.

If you want a thinner waistline then you must lose the fat tissue which is sitting on top of your stomach muscles, and the only way to do that is to follow a good dieting plan.

You must remember that you can make your abs super strong and firm, and yet you can still have tons of fat tissue sitting on top of your stomach which prevents your ab muscles from being seen.

This is the “truth” which ab machine makers don’t want you to know when you’re watching their fitness models on TV. The truth is that you need to begin a diet to lose the fat which is sitting on top of your ab muscles, since only then will you get a slimmer waistline.

To begin losing weight fast (and to get a slimmer waistline) we recommend using the new Idiot Proof Diet from Fat Loss 4 Idiots. This is a brand new type of diet never seen before.

Diet Exercise

If you bulk co enzyme 10 trying to build up muscle or burn off the fat and your eating habits are not optimal… this letter is for you. It’s the 4 (four) Rules of Nutrition.

Normally I don’t like to use the word ‘rule’ as it sounds like I’m being an absolutist and it’s my way or the highway. That isn’t how I mean it at all. But generally speaking, if you aren’t doing these 4 things when it comes to nutrition, you will not succeed at your performance goals.

What exactly is a rule?

“A generalized statement that describes what is true in most or all cases” - Dictionary.com

For starters, I’ve been receiving a whole lot of emails recently from people who are desperate to build muscle quickly or to burn off some fat for an event (wedding comes to mind). These people don’t track what they eat and have no idea about what to eat, when to eat or why eating frequently would be something they would even want to do.

More often then not, when you mention frequent eating, the first response goes like, “There’s no way I can eat 5-6 big meals a day!”

Frankly, if you are not following these simple rules, it’s not really shocking you aren’t getting to where you want.

[Print this letter out NOW before you forget and for 2 days, monitor your own eating habits. If you are not following these rules, you have found a problem that you can easily solve without spending a dime.]

:: Nutrition Rule #1 ::

Always eat at least 5 times a day. Two or three meals simply isn’t enough. Two of the meals can be considered snacks as long as the nutrition ratios are correct as I’m about to describe in Rule 2.

Why is eating so frequently a must they ask?

* blood sugar levels will be controlled (you won’t be as famished as your friends who binge on anything in sight as they are starving*

* you will be feeding yourself protein throughout the entire day. This means you will be anabolic and supporting muscle growth (more muscle = leaner you). Your recovery will be better.

* body fat will not be stored but used as energy. By providing yourself with a steady flow of required calories thru the day, your body’s need to store it as fat will be reduced. Compared this to when you eat infrequently and your body detects this as a famine situation. At this point, too much of the food you consume is stored as fat.

:: Nutrition Rule #2 ::

In planning each of your daily meals (or snacks), a caloric ratio of approximately 1 part fat, 2 parts protein, and 3 parts carbohydrate is a good place to begin. What you will see in Rule 3 below, is this is just an estimate for average people. You can adjust this to fit your needs. Keep in mind, you do not want to eliminate the healthy fats from your diet.

This rule preaches consuming enough protein to support muscle growth and enough carbohydrates to ensure you have fuel for your workouts and you are able to recovery.

Low glycemic carbs are optimal for the choices in this stage. Remember that carbohydrates are your body’s preferred fuel source!

:: Nutrition Rule #3 ::

Ask yourself, “What am I going to be doing in the next hour?” If you won’t be active, then lower the amount of carbs you consume; if you will be training, then bump up the carbs you will consume so you’ll have the energy to train. Alter your carbohydrate intake depending on your anticipated activities.

Remember that low glycemic carbs are optimal for pre- workout consumption.

:: Nutrition Rule #4 ::

If you want to build muscle and lose fat at the same time? Pick a new goal.

Simply put:

Building muscle requires a calorie surplus.

Burning fat requires a calorie deficit.

As you can see, clearly the goals are in conflict. And while it’s true that beginners can do both (their bodies are easily changed) the rest of you will natural deanol bitartrate this an inefficient task.

It’s best to alternate periods of negative calorie balance with periods of positive calorie balance You’ll ultimately build more muscle and burn more fat if you simply pick a single goal.

:: Secret Nutrition Rule 5 ::

I’m not entirely sure I agree with this one but it does make realistic sense to the common person who has a job, maybe married with kids and can’t be a full time cook or simply doesn’t have the time to prepare foods.

This rule says that it’s almost impossible to get all of the nutrients your body needs to remain healthy and active from food alone; especially if you are on some sort of diet. Therefore, it is important to supplement your diet with vitamins, minerals and carefully selected supplements.

Let’s get real here (I fully expect fall-out from this statement)… I’m not preaching you HAVE to take supplements. In fact, many programs out there including my own do not require it any way shape or form. And if you can carefully select your foods, you will be just fine.

Personally I know of one bodybuilder who doesn’t take any supplements and is ripped to sheds and his workouts make me cry. He’s dedicated and proves every time he steps into the gym, natural, supplement-free bodybuilding is the way to go.

But it’s crazy not to at least mention the arguments for this secret nutrition rule because as a bodybuilder myself with a life and who’s occasionally time constrained, these next points happen to most of us.

There’s not a person who’s reading this letter now that hasn’t felt like, no matter how hard you try, no matter how good a cook you are, or where you buy your food:

* You cannot always eat 5-6 times a day

* There are instances when your body might need a certain substance in greater amounts then you and provide with food alone

* Soil depletion has left some foods less nutritious then you would expect. If you shop organic and are extremely careful in your selection, you might avoid this but for us big stores discount shoppers, an apple isn’t always an apple.

* Periods of high stress sometimes lead to higher nutrient needs without an increase in caloric needs.

:: Additional Tips ::

* Eliminate the junk food. Refined sugars and processed foods are usually higher in fats. Neither of these things will be beneficial to you. All these foods really do is promote a rise in your blood sugar level and then a swift decline. You’ll end up hungrier than before.

* Drink plenty of water a day. A really quick formula is to drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces. Drink water during the day in 15 minute increments; not all at once. It replaces water loss from exercise and keeps you hydrated. Your body is 55-75% water you know!

* Determine your daily protein needs. As you know, protein is required for muscle growth. By ensuring that you are getting enough protein all throughout the day, you will keep your nitrogen levels high and your body in a anabolic (growth and repair) state.

* Consume foods higher in fiber. Not only does fiber help lower your cholesterol but it helps lower the glycemic response of some meals and aids in efficient digestion.

* Increase your lean body weight thru resistance training. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. The more calories you burn, the leaner you can be. If you want to burn more fat then build more muscle. By having more muscle, you also strengthen joints, tendons, ligaments and bones for greater overall health. Building muscle is a primary goal of any program! Even people who want to burn fat should build muscle as it aids in doing exactly that.

Copyright 2008 Marc David

Health News Motivation Sexual Fitness

by Michael Jans

No body wants to be “fluffy.” Being muscular is not only healthy but it is also physically attractive, cool and… really sexy.

A body that features a pair of “love handles” and a nicely rounded belly isn’t very attractive or sexy anywhere or anytime… but it’s especially unattractive and definitely not sexy when you stick it in a swimsuit and take it out to the pool or beach. Like it or not, MUSCLE is more attractive than fat!

Physical fitness is based on the development of muscle and the simultaneous loss of fat. You want to KEEP the muscle that you have and build on it, while getting rid of that “fluffiness.”

These four pillars of muscle building are eternal and unchanging, no matter your age, sex, or starting weight:

1. Strength Training 2. Cardio Training 3. Diet 4. Mental Training

If you leave out any one of these four pillars of muscle building, your efforts will fail. Also you can’t build muscle on just one pillar at a time. ALL of the pillars must be used from the very beginning of any muscle building program for you to be successful.

Muscle Building Pillar #1: Strength Training

All of the muscle building programs that I’ve ever seen start with strength training… generally weight lifting. Weight lifting is a good strength training option but it isn’t the only one.

Body weight exercises can be used instead of or in conjunction with weight lifting. If you do a push up, you’ve lifted your body weight. If you do a chin-up, you’ve lifted your body weight.

Muscle Building Pillar #2: Cardio Training

Cardio training is more often than not called aerobic exercise. Walking, jogging, cycling, cardio machines, aerobic exercise classes are all cardio training options.

Muscle Building Pillar #3: Diet

The idea here is to nourish the muscle while dropping the fat, and doing it without starving the whole body. Starvation diets and “fad” diets simply don’t work over the long haul and “low carb” diets are not good for producing results when you want to build muscle.

A somewhat reduced calorie - but nutritionally balanced - diet is the one that will work. Eat healthy and depend on the additional exercise to burn the fat.

Muscle Building Pillar #4: Mental Training

Most people think that the insurance height/weight tables can tell them how physically fit they are. They also believe that a scale is the only tool needed to find out whether a physical fitness program is working. That’s just wrong.

The weight to height ratio is important, but it’s NOT the only factor. The mind must toss out old worn out fitness ideas and accept the fact that percentage of body fat is a much more important factor than a number on the scale - and the way that clothes fit and how you look is an even more important factor.

Build Muscle Exercise Strength Training Workout