Setting Fitness Goals That Work

SETTING FITNESS GOALS

Setting fitness goals can be frustrating. Yet it is VITAL to your success if you want to get in shape. And as a martial artist I can tell you that there is no way around it. If you're not setting and measuring your goals then you are going nowhere as far as fitness is concerned.

So how do you go about setting fitness goals? The strategy I am going to share with you will not only serve you in getting the body that you want, but it can be applied to any area of your life as well.

Step 1: Find your desire. Most of the goal setting material that I've read tells you to start by writing down anything you'd like to do, have, or be. This is meant to really pump you up and get you excited. And it does...for a time. As a guy if I just start writing fitness goals like "Bench Press 500lbs. and win a bodybuilding contest" I might feel hyped up in the moment and ready to 'conquer my future', but am I really committed to that kind of goal? Does it really inspire me? Probably not.

I would suggest you pay more attention to what you TRULY desire as you sit down to write your goals. First, ask yourself why you're doing all this in the first place. Do you miss being able to play more freely with your kids? Perhaps a goal to be able to play football with your son for a half hour is a worthy desire.

Whatever the goals are that you choose, write at least one paragraph as to WHY you want to achieve that goal. How will it benefit you? What are the long-term results of accomplishing that goal? This is where you'll really start to connect to your goal. This is what makes the difference between those who give up after the initial excitement of their dreams and those who stay committed to their passions.

Warning: Many people have scaled the ladder of success only to find that it was leaning against the wrong wall. So do the research to make sure that the goals you've set will really help you to fulfill your desire. For instance, going anorexic is NOT a good weight loss program and will NOT result in you feeling healthier. Also, be sure to evaluate your goals periodically to make sure that they are realistic and that they are still bringing you closer to your desires (the WHY'S behind achieving them).

Step 2: Reality Check.Dream big and you might surprise yourself with what you can accomplish. But dream TOO big and your subconscious mind will only laugh at you and make you throw in the towel.

One of my friends is really good at the game HALO. And every time we play he destroys me. It's not even fun for me anymore. After the first couple times he kills me I don't want play because there's no point. I don't feel challenged, I feel overwhelmed.

Don't let this happen to you in your fitness or life goals. Ask yourself if you are being realistic about your goals. You want to find the balance between challenging and overwhelming. As your confidence in yourself grows you can always re-establish your goals.

Step 3: Set up a support system. This means strategize. Figure out what you can do to make success easier and failure harder. I suggest you write down at least 3 situations that you find most challenging and then (with or without the help of a friend) create a plan of action to deal with those situations when they arise.

To illustrate, I've been focusing more on my diet lately. I quickly learned that unless I had a fully stocked fridge of healthy food choices I was fighting an uphill battle when mealtime came. So what do I do now? I keep my fridge ready at all times with several healthy options.

Many people find that a support group, friend, or accountability partner can be immensely helpful. I also prefer to read books related to my goals, as it keeps me more focused and excited about them. There are a number of ways to keep yourself inspired as you work to accomplish your goals. Feel free to share some more ways in the comments section of this article.

Finally, seriously consider hiring a personal trainer. As a fitness coach myself I can tell you, there is a lot more science behind reaching your fitness goals than you can get from just reading a book. And a trainer knows how to get results because he (hopefully) has gotten them for others many many times.

Just remember, WHATEVER GOALS YOU'RE THINKING OF STARTING, A YEAR FROM NOW YOU'LL WISH YOU HAD STARTED TODAY.

Sifu Forrest

Sifu Forrest Caudill

Forrest is a certified instructor in two martial arts and runs the Austin Impact Jeet Kune Do school in Austin, Texas. For more resources and information check out his website at http://martialartsaustintx.com/

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Simple Yet Effective Strategies To Help You Lose Belly Fat

There really is no secret formula to get rid of belly fat. It's a problem almost everybody has to deal with at one point in their lives or another. But did you know that fat in the abdominal section is the first kind of fat that a man tends to lose when he loses weight? According to a recent study 99% of men who successfully lose weight will lose fat in the stomach area before anywhere else. That's good news, isn't it?

To lose weight and get rid of belly fat you have to start evaluating your lifestyle. With a few tweaks in what you eat what you do can lead to a trim tummy, maybe even a rock hard solid six-pack if you really put your mind into it. Of course, losing weight naturally all boils down to diet and exercises. Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Eat your breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I bet your mom has mentioned that more than once before. A lot of men think that skipping breakfast will help them get rid of belly fat. That is a common misconception. A healthy breakfast is a great way to jumpstart your metabolism early on in the day. That way your body starts burning calories earlier. But of course, you have to watch what you eat. A great light breakfast would be a protein shake blended with your favorite fresh fruit. It's easy to prepare even if you are in a rush, it is low in calories, and most importantly it helps regulate your sugar level.

2. Eat smaller meal portions 6 times a day. This is probably no news to you. This advice has been around for a while and for a good reason. Even if you consume as much calories as when you were having 3 full meals daily, spreading out the intervals of these meals will significantly increase your metabolism. You get the same calories but more calories are burned by your body. With this method alone, expect to lose a couple of pounds in a month or less.

3. Concentrate when you eat. Men tend to multitask even while they're eating. Do you eat in front of a TV? Are you the person who continues to work on your computer while eating? If you are then you have to stop. Doing other activities while eating makes your mind focus less on what you eat and you will not be able to concentrate on the amount of food that you consume. More so, you tend not to notice that your body already had enough. Your body always gives a sign that you are full. But since you are doing something else, you might not be able to notice the sign.

And it is also very important to chew every bite carefully. Count to 20 while chewing. This is a very simple but great way to improve your digestive system and you will also be able to be fully aware of your fullness level.

4. Are you a beer lover? You cannot get rid of belly fat or more appropriately your beer belly if you do not cut down on beer. Try giving it up for at least two weeks. A lot of men have testified that they have lost a couple of inches around the waist just by staying away from beer for 2 weeks.

Avoid junk foods and fast foods. Believe me, no matter how much crunches and sit-ups you perform, even if you have the most expensive fat burner equipment, you will not get rid of belly fat if you keep gorging out on chips, donuts, burgers, and pizza.

These tips to get rid of belly fat are very basic and doable. Following them to the letter can do wonders in helping you lose weight. Couple it up with regular 30-minute weight lifting daily, and not only will you get rid of belly fat, it is also very possible for you to get six-pack abs.

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Ten Ways To Get Through the HCG Diet Weight Loss Plateau

The HCG diet is a very successful method of weight loss that has made an incredible resurgence in the US. It was invented by a British endocrinologist back in the 1950's, Dr. Simeons. Most patients see a nice steady weight loss of approximately one pound a day.

Unfortunately, some dieters will hit the wall with their fat loss and not achieve the pound a day. This is often seen in patients who are on their second round of HCG dieting, but not always. What should dieters do to work through the plateau?

There are multiple methods of getting the pounds to start shedding again. Here's 10 methods to break out of a plateau and get back on track losing the weight:

1. Increase your water intake by two to three quarts per day. It may get the body to start releasing the fat again.

2. Eliminate the daily apple for a while.

3. Make sure all condiments and seasoning do no have sugar, as it can stagnate the weight loss that was happening.

4. Make sure to achieve enough sleep. Getting adequate sleep is vital to weight loss, in addition to keeping you even keeled and less likely to cheat on the diet.

5. In addition to eliminating the daily apple, add two tablespoons of apple vinegar to your diet.

6. If you started taking any new medications check with your doctor to see if one or multiple could be interfering with the diet. Maybe one is causing water retention or inhibiting the HCG's action on the release of body fat stores.

7. Ensure that the meat and chicken being eaten is organic to avoid any additives and cut out American beef.

8. Skip the bread sticks on the diet.

9. Consider adding in moderate exercise such as a brisk walk or yoga. The diet itself recommends avoiding heavy exercise since it can make patients have hunger pangs and fatigue. But the moderate exercise may in fact give one's metabolism that bump to start losing weight again.

10. Avoid mixing vegetables.

Patients should wait 6 weeks between rounds of HCG to give the body a recovery period. If patients are going along fine on the diet and then over 5 days occurs with a plateau, they should check with the supervising doctor.

There is usually a reason, and even if one is not directly ascertained it may be possible to break the plateau with one of the above 10 methods.

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The Process of Staying Motivated With Your Diet Goals During Winter

Staying motivated with your weight loss goals can seem less of a chore during the spring and summer months. The days are longer and the weather's warmer and this can make the process of dieting and exercising seem more worthwhile as we are comfortable with our environments and the best part we can get to show off our results on the beach or by the pool!

Then as August moves into September and the leaves begin to fall a change takes place in us too. Going outside seems less appealing, and the thoughts of those comforting winter foods begin to develop in our minds. Roast dinner with all the trimmings everyone? Before you know it we have descended into a routine where by we exercise less frequently and eat too much of those rich foods that comfort us during the colder darker months.

This is the first sign your motivation is slipping. You may find yourself saying "well I can shift the pounds next spring" or your daily exercise routine may become a weekend thing or even once a week. In order to prevent this from happening we need to change the way we thing about our diets, our exercise plans and our life styles in general.

Getting to the level of fitness and good shape you desire is a bit like opening a savings account. To make the most of it you need to make it part of your life. Depositing regularly for the rest of your life wont make you wealthy tomorrow, but in a few years you will have accumulated a substantial amount of cash. And so with our diet and exercising plan we must keep focused on the long term goal. To do this keep in your mind:

1. Your achievements so far.

2. Keep body transformation pictures of yourself or those you aspire to be like in your bag or on your smart-phone.

3. Talk to your partner or friends about what you hope to achieve with your diet and fitness goals over the winter months and ask them to encourage you.

4. Use the internet to look for alternative forms of exercise and food plans for the winter months.

5. Don't be afraid of the dark! - Find a running partner or gym partner to go with you for those early morning or evening workouts.

6. Be strict with your shopping lists. Make sure you always have one written before you do your shopping.

7. Stick to foods that provide great slow release energy, brown rice and pasta, oats and honey and sweet potatoes will provide the energy you need to see you through those dark mornings and gloomy nights. these will keep your metabolism up and SAD down!

8. Keep a diary of your food and exercising programmes, that way you can track how much progress you are making and you'll notice the winter isn't as long as you think!

9. Look for the healthier treats at Christmas, nuts and fruits are always a plenty this time of year!

10. If you slip up. Get up, get focused and get going again.

We all feel like just cosying up in the living room at this time of year. but trust me it makes us sluggish, moody and depressed. Be one of those who smiles through the winter and keep your motivation going!

James Arthur Jackson

Home Fitness Enthusiast - Started at 210lbs and now at 179lbs and still going
http://www.steadyloss.com/

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Tips for Best Weight Loss

As you may not know, every pound of bodyweight contains 3500 calories. So if you want to lose a pound a week, you'd only have to consume 500 calories less than you expend every day (7 x 500 = 3500).

This is done by controlling your calorie intake and burning calories through exercise, day-to-day activity, and by raising your resting metabolic rate (RMR) through added muscle, frequent meals, and the post-workout rise in RMR.

Losing 0.5 - 1.5 lbs a week is optimal. If you are very overweight, you should be closer to 1.5 pounds a week (750 calorie daily deficit), and if you only have a few pounds to shed, 0.5 lbs a week is ideal (250 calorie deficit daily).

Taking your time will prevent muscle loss and maximize your chances of keeping the weight off permanently. Don't give in to the temptation of not eating or doing tons of aerobic exercise both of which will cause muscle loss, and therefore counteract your goal of long term fat loss. Ideally, you want to build muscle in order to increase your RMR. You must do everything in your power to prevent the loss of muscle while losing weight. If you try to lose weight too quickly, you will not only prevent muscle growth, you'll cause your body to breakdown its existing muscle for fuel. This is going in the wrong direction.

Remember, it isn't simply about weight. It's about body composition less fat and more muscle.

Key Points for weight loss:

- Lose .5 - 1.5 lbs per week by eating 250 - 750 less calories than you burn daily.
- Eat 5 meals per day, every 2.5 - 3.5 hours.
- Maximize your calorie expenditure by building muscle through consistent, short, intense strength training.
- Eat a diet that gives you 1.5 grams of protein per pound of your ideal bodyweight, and split the remaining calories between mostly unsaturated fats and carbs with a low glycemic index. Stay away from processed sugars; they're everywhere!
- Don't starve yourself and don't overeat.

Besides, going hungry to a restaurant or party is also a common pitfall that can lead to some major overeating. A great secret to not overeating at restaurants and parties is to simply eat a small meal right before you leave home. That way, when you get there, you're focused on having fun, instead of waiting for food to fill your belly. Focus on enjoying yourself, the company you're with, and the party or restaurant not on dieting or gorging yourself. You order less, save more money, and tend to really enjoy what you eat because you're eating to satisfy your taste buds, not your empty stomach.

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Tips On Weight Loss and Fitness

When we want to shed those unwanted pounds, we may begin by focusing on making dietary changes such as reducing our calorie intake, reducing portion sizes and cutting out junk food. This is a step in the right direction and will achieve weight loss, but another factor needs to be considered. To promote good health as well as weight loss we should also focus our attentions on getting fit. We may lose the weight we are aiming for but are we feeling unwell, weak and generally unhealthy once we are slim?

Here are a few things to bear in mind concerning weight loss and fitness:

- Physical exercise and activities help boost metabolism.

The more active we are, the slimmer we will be and the healthier we will be. If we follow a regular exercise regime and maintain an active lifestyle we will be able to consume more calories and still maintain a stable healthy weight. When we try to lose weight by simply eating less, we are setting a foundation for a lifetime of reducing our calorie intake more and more just to maintain a healthy weight as our metabolism slows down as we age.

- Physical fitness helps to promotes mental and emotional fitness.

When we are physically active, our whole body, mind and emotional state benefit. We will not only benefit by having more energy but also be stronger, have better balance and flexibility and we will also enjoy a more positive attitude, increased concentration and relax and sleep much better.

- Physical activity helps to relieve stress.

If we are physically fit we will find it easier to reduce and manage stress, which helps to keep our weight down. The hormone Cortisol in increased levels are released into the bloodstream when we are stressed, which can lead to excess stored fat around the midriff area. If we suffer regularly from stress, this can lead to the storage of excessive fat storage in our midsection. Maintaining a regular exercise regime
will not only burn off any stored fat, but also help us to relieve stress which will prevent us from storing more.

It is obviously more sensible for us to get fitter rather than focusing on weight loss alone. We do not have to become a super athlete to be fit we merely need to include regular exercise in our daily routine several times each week. This alone will help us to lose weight and tone our body easier along with the addition of many other benefits to our general health and well-being.

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Top 5 Reasons People Fail to Lose Weight

Over the last two years I have conducted research on people who have attempted weight loss on more than one occasion and reasons why they were not successful. I discovered these top 5 reasons why people are unsuccessful and how a simple tweak in mindset can help one reach their goal.

The first and the most common reason people don't even try is that they are scared to fail. Some believe that if they fail, it will set them back or make them lose hope. Some are scared about what others will think and say if the attempt to lose weight fails. Hearing remarks such as "I don't know why she tried that" and "I told her that crazy diet wouldn't work" can be hurtful and embarrassing to someone who is trying to lose weight. The best way to overcome this feeling is thinking about your "WHY". What is your "WHY" and is it really that important? Your why is the real, "deep inside you" kind of reason you want to lose weight. It can't be the obvious, such as looking good at the class reunion. Your why must be something deep that will make it worth it to take that big step forward. You want a healthy body so that you can have a baby or you want to be able to chase your grandchildren around the playground and watch them grow up.

The second reason people fail is they suffer from information overload. Many of us are constantly reading magazines, books, researching information on the Internet, joining weight loss forums, etc, but we never seem to find time to really get started. When we decide to start, there is so much information that we don't know where to begin. This is common with many people. How much exercise equipment, videos, and magazines have you purchased?

Thirdly, people tend to give up to soon. Their expectations are high when they start their weight loss journey. The first set back or "plateau" will feel like failure and they start to losing hope. What you need to understand is that everything you do in life has set backs. Go and speak with any successful business man/women and ask what setbacks they have had before. Road blocks are the best way to know that you are getting somewhere.

Another reason that people fail so often is they just do not have enough passion. They tell their friends and family they want to lose weight, and for a while they want to, but they don't give themselves a good enough reason to get the job done. That takes us back to what was said in the second paragraph about your "why". If. when you think about the reason you want to lose weight and it doesn't excite you, or give you goose bumps and makes your heart beat faster, how are you going to get through the tough parts when you hit a road block or give in to temptation?

Lastly, I want to talk about the hardest thing NOT to do. Taking shortcuts is something everyone will try to lose weight.This will depend on if you recognize what you are doing and if you have enough "why" to overcome the obstacles. Starving yourself and thinking about surgery is a shortcut and you must put in the work to see results. So ask yourself, why do you want to lose weight? What is the reason you want to reach your goal? Is it to fit in to some favorite jeans that you have? Is it because you want to wear a bikini again, or maybe you want to spice up your love life again. Whatever the reason make sure it means a lot to you and use that"why" to drive you to excel.

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Weight Control: Important Tips To Follow If You Want Success

Let us use the following as an example of the continuous mistakes made nowadays when trying to achieve weight control.

Many diets in the market today emphasize on reducing the ingestion of carbohydrates to very low levels, but one has to be extremely careful following any of these diet programs without medical supervision, since they can be dangerous to your health. Carbohydrates are necessary to the organism. They are responsible for the energy our bodies need to function, so the total or almost complete elimination of them can damage instead of helping you obtain your goal of losing weight. You want to do this in a healthy manner, and it can be done.

We believe the following tips will provide very valuable information for those trying to achieve the desired weight in their lives, and help them avoid those mistakes on their way.

Weight Control Tip #1

The best tip to follow any kind of diet is NEVER GO TO EXTREMES! As in anything in life, extremes are almost always harmful. The best way to start is by setting a realistic goal to achieve. Pretending too much, or simply listening to everybody and his brother's opinions as to what you should do is just going to take you directly to the Frustration Department, and of course, as a result of this, to the Quitting Department. There you are, another failure!

Weight Control Tip #2

The second best tip is balance. As mentioned before, eliminating anything completely from your diet, unless this has been indicated by your doctor because of physiological reasons, is a big mistake. When you balance your diet and include exercise, of course, the results will definitely be satisfactory.

Weight Control Tip #3

Do not wait until it is too late! Why expose yourself to having to follow any diet in order to obtain a desired weight, when the easiest thing to do is maintaining the same always with very little sacrifice? Of course, we are talking here about people with no medical conditions that contribute to the weight gaining, as we have explained before.

There is a big difference between the uncontrolled weight gaining because of something that happens to you, such as a disease or condition, and the weight gaining because of something you do. You cannot control the first, but you certainly can control the latter.

Many people think they can go on forever eating uncontrollably, and also eating the wrong kinds of foods, without any consequences. There will come a time when these will be evident, and that is when, as we said, it is too late. Prevention is no longer the issue here. Sacrifice to obtain a solution is the only thing to do. Why reach this point? If the control of your actions is only yours, why go against yourself?

We are aware that modern society demands way too much from us. Studies or work, children, spouse, finances in a deep recession, competition, etc.

These are some of the everyday things we have to face, and many try to obtain instant gratifications through food in order to compensate from the continuous requirements and frustrations. We agree that food provides that gratification, but again, we can choose the correct foods and still be gratified without exposing ourselves to weight gaining and the very unwanted consequences. We will always have the freedom to choose, so it will be our decision to follow the correct road or the wrong one.

Too many people forget this constantly and look at themselves as the victims of their weight condition without ever stopping for one minute to remember that food never flies to their mouths on their own; it has to be taken there by hands, which will not move unless a previous decision to do so has been made before. They are not the victims, but the doers. They are creating their own problem, getting scared and angry when having to face it and definitely, not ever recognizing that it was only their own behavior which led to the unwanted results.

Weight control can be achieved much more easily when we emphasize on the word control, as just specified. Dieting is not control; it is just the remedy, and that is precisely what we are trying to pinpoint here that can be avoided if we sit for a minute and gain consciousness of our role in the right and the wrong decisions we make regarding not only our weight, but our health in general.

The author is running a site and a blog related to weightloss. For more information about easyfatburning and fatburning pay them a visit.

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Weight Loss Bully - A New Hope For a Slimmer You

Are you having a tough time losing weight or maintaining your current weight? Are you frantically searching for a permanent solution to your weight problem? There might be good news for you. There is a product known as the Weight Loss Bully which could very well be the answer to your problem.

You need to understand that being overweight is not purely a physical problem. Your mind and emotions play a huge role in making you live a lifestyle that forces you to put on weight. So, the solution to weight loss must not address the problem at the physical level alone. It must not just be a dietary supplement or an exercise regimen. It should be something that also takes our mental disposition and mindset into account.

The Weight Loss Bully is therefore not a diet product or an exercise routine, but an informative eBook that addresses the weight problem using a multi-pronged approach. At the mental level, it debunks the myths about weight-loss and shows you how to lose the excess pounds fast.

From the dietary angle, the book shows you how to increase your metabolism rate in order to lose weight. There are foods that can raise your metabolic rate by 25%. The book shows you how you can use these foods to your advantage. The book also lists ten foods that you should avoid like the plague if you wish to lose weight fast.

In your attempts to lose those pounds, you might have resorted to diet drinks of different kinds. The Weight Loss Bully does advocate a diet drink for losing weight. It might even be the same drink that you drink everyday for losing weight. But there is a unique way to drink it to make it much more effective in helping you lose excess weight. The book shows you how to get maximum results from such a diet drink.

From the exercise standpoint, the book reveals that you need not spend hours of your time on strenuous workouts. Just a ninety second exercise done the right way can help you lose your excess weight within a short period of time.

Unlike other slimming books that have been written by fitness experts, dieticians or physicians, the Weight Loss Bully is written by a guy who underwent a serious weight loss problem. Through his desperate efforts to lose weight, he came up with some brilliant ideas purely by trial and error. But once his methods started producing results consistently in a lot of people, he knew that he was onto a winner.

So, if you are fighting a losing battle, it is time to check this book out. It could be the perfect answer to your weight problem that you have been waiting for all these years.

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Weight Loss Plateaus and How to Beat Them

When it comes to weight loss, reaching a plateau can be one of the most frustrating things you'll have to deal with. Not only does reaching a plateau put a stop to the weight loss progress, but it can also really wreak havoc on a dieter's motivation to continue on.

A weight loss plateau refers to a point at which the progress of weight loss slows down, or comes to a complete standstill. This usually occurs after an initial period of weight loss. After loosing some of the excess weight, the body essentially pulls at the reigns and says wait a minute, let's just hang on a second.

The reason for weight loss plateaus is that the body is not really designed to want to lose weight. In our hunter and gatherer days, the body developed to hang on to fat stores during the feast times in order to survive the leaner famine times.

The way the body works therefore is as an efficient machine. When you keep eating and exercising the same amount, even when this is in the right ratio to promote weight loss, after a time the body essentially adjusts itself.

The metabolic processes of the body simply slow down in order to compensate for the lower intake of calories or the higher caloric burn. This magically efficient machinery is however incredibly frustrating for those seeking to lose weight.

In order to beat this system, you'll therefore have to really mix things up and surprise your body with a good deal of variation. Below are just some suggestions for getting over the hump and continuing along your weight loss trail.

For starters, even though you may be eating fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its weight thinking this will yield weight loss results, you may actually have to start eating more rather than less. The reason for this is that in order to effectively burn calories the body needs to consume enough calories.

Sometimes dieting can result in decreased metabolic function. When this happens your body starts to hang on to its stores by reducing caloric burn. If you suspect that your metabolism has greatly slowed down due to dieting, you may find that adding in some extra calories into your diet will be the magic wand you need.

When you starve your body of more than five hundred calories a day, your body may start to lose lean mass. In order to take a good look at whether or not you may need to add more calories to lose weight, begin by calculating precisely what your daily requirements are.

For women, calculations should be done as follows: kg (body weight) multiplied by 23 = calories per day.

For men, calculations look like: kg (body weight) multiplied by 24 = calories per day.

These calculations will give you the approximate amount of calories that you need to consumer per day in order to maintain your current body weight. If you are eating more than five hundred calories less than your daily requirement, you may be eating too little. This could be the reason for your weight loss plateau.

Another potential reason that you're stalling out on your weight loss is that you might be losing too much of your lean body mass. This is related to the above phenomenon, but has to do with your exercise regime.

When dieting if you are not also trying to build muscle you may be subject to a sluggish metabolism and therefore a weight loss plateau. Because muscle burns more fat (up to five times more than your fat stores alone do), then it makes sense that having more muscle results in more calories burned.

If you are stalling out with your weight loss and haven't been doing strength training (or strength training plus cardio) then this might be your problem. A healthy exercise program will help to increase your muscle mass and this will enable better fat burning. Moreover, when you exercise your body will require more calories, so you might be able to kill to birds with one stone by eating slightly more (as per the suggestion above) and exercising more.

The combination of increasing your caloric intake and your exercise levels can certainly make a difference in combating a weight loss plateau. If however you are exercising like a dog and eating enough, you might need to add variation into your routine.

When it comes to exercise, our bodies quickly learn the most efficient way to handle the extra energy expenditure. Our bodies effectively adjust to the new routine and with time the routine itself becomes less effective for fat burning and weight loss.

When this occurs the only answer is to mix things up a little and unsettle the body. Changing up your routine by varying the time, type and intensity of your exercise can be a great way to move forward passed a weight loss plateau. So if you usually do a thirty minute run in the morning, switch it up and do some evening strength training with cardio intervals. Whatever it takes to make the body get unsettled and start to shed the pounds again.

Sometimes despite our best efforts, we continue to hold steady at the same weight. When this occurs you need to keep working with the suggestions above, but also remain patient. The plateau will pass and you will see weight loss results again, provided you keep to your program. Eventually the weight will begin to come off again. The worst thing you can do is to lose your motivation and go back to the unhealthy habits that got you overweight in the first place.

Dale Miller is a health, sports, fitness and nutrition enthusiast. He operates http://centurysupplements.com/ and writes a blog at http://centurysupplements.com/blog/

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What You Need To Know About Running to Burn Fat

Burning fat is for most people, the ultimate goal when doing exercise regularly. There is good news however, you can dramatically increase your fat burning potential with just a few simple steps.

First, you have to calculate your fat burning Zone. All you have to do is just subtract your age from 220, which will in turn give your maximum heart rate! So 50 to 65 percent will be the maximum heart rate, this will be your fat burning zone. Now you'll be able to calculate the heart rate that will burn the most fat for you.

However if you manage to go over that rate, then your work out will be an aerobic workout. Which improves cardiovascular resistance, but actually burns less fat. This can cause you to lose water weight instead of fat.

Now you need to set a routine that will allow you to run at least four times a week for at least 30 minutes. You need to be running at least five to six days a week to gain the most fat burning benefits. Only run 30 mins at once, no need to make the running sessions shorter than this. In the first 15 to 20 mins of your intense exercise you are using the fuel from carbs instead of fat.

You can also buy a heart rate monitor if you don't already have one. This will help you to keep track of your fat burning zone. Also a simple wrist watch that reads your pulse either directly or by touching a certain spot on the device will suffice as well. There are some other heart rate monitors out there that have a chest strap that can send information to the watch.

You can also alternate your running with power walking if your having trouble all the way through, this is mostly done by beginners. Which is a effective technique because it allows you to catch your breath and keeps your heart rate in the fat burning zone.

Also if you decide to use a treadmill, don't use the calorie setting because that will only determine a rough amount of calories not counting the those that are burned from fat.

Running is a good method to use to burn fat, but is not the only way. Their are other more effective ways to burn fat. To find out those methods check out the Resource box below.

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