Are You Ready To Lose Weight, Get Toned and Gain Energy
People often complain that they don’t have much energy. By the time the afternoon rolls around, they can barely keep going.
The biggest reason that you might feel a drain in your energy is directly connected to your weight and the fitness level of your muscles.
When you’re out of shape, it’s hard to have the energy that you need. But you can make changes and find more energy if you’re serious about going after your fitness goals.
Ready to Commit to Better Health?
Finding the path to better health can be filled with ups and downs. Many people encounter one setback after another and they give up.
This is why you’ll see constant resolutions to lose weight and get into shape.
What’s often missing is the commitment to having better health.
It’s a fact of life that we will accomplish what we want to accomplish. When we truly want something, we don’t let anything stand in the way of having it.
But because weight loss and getting physically fit doesn’t offer the immediate rewards that other aspects of life do, it often gets pushed to the back burner.
You’re the only one who can commit to changing your life in order to have better health.
You’re ready to commit to better health if you recognize any of the following signs about yourself.
You know that it’s what you want but you keep pushing it aside, telling yourself that you’re too busy, too tired, or too stressed to start a commitment to changing your health today.
It doesn’t have to be a huge jump to make healthier choices. You can start small and each change does add up.
Sometimes, people look at losing weight and getting toned as an almost insurmountable project – especially if they haven’t been active in awhile or have a lot to lose.
You can get started by coming up with some small changes that you can make right now.
These can be easy things such as giving up one alcoholic or sugar-laden drink and replacing that with a glass of water.
It can be something easy such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
You can also commit to leaving a portion of your food on the plate and walking away. By implementing small changes, you won’t feel overwhelmed and sticking with small changes can easily become a habit.
Sometimes people find a commitment to better health when they realize that their lack of fitness and weight has kept them from joining in on activities that they used to love to do.
If your weight and fitness level has hindered you in any way, then your life is being short-changed. By committing yourself to losing weight and getting fit, you’ll enable yourself to live a healthier life without the limits that extra weight and a poor fitness level can give you.
You can start with something as simple as going for a short walk after you eat a meal to get yourself motivated. If you’ve decided that you are ready to commit to better health, pay a visit to the doctor and get a physical to determine where you are physically.
This will help you see the results as you make changes in your life. For example, you’ll see your blood pressure readings drop into a normal range. You’ll notice that your body is able to use glucose easier and you’ll have lower cholesterol levels as well as a lower risk of developing heart related diseases.
When you’re ready to commit to better health, put it in writing where you can see it every day. This will help keep you motivated. When you write it down, list several reasons why you want to lose weight and get toned.
These reasons should be for yourself and not for someone else. When your brain sees your goals in writing, it becomes more tangible. Once you have your commitment down on paper and placed where you can see it, make sure that you have a support team in place.
Tell someone else about your plan to lose weight and get fit. This should be someone who will support you and cheer you on and not someone who tries to sabotage your weight loss efforts.
When you do make the mental commitment to lose weight and get healthy, you might discover that some negativity about your plans comes from you. Because we’re creatures of habit, we learn to condition ourselves mentally and emotionally when it comes to accomplishing something we want.
Sometimes, when you feel like you have to do something, the subconscious mind will rebel. More often than not, you’ve probably experienced negative self-feedback about getting in shape.
When you hear those negative thoughts in your mind, it’s time to stop them. Don’t let things like “you’ve failed before, why is this any different?” or “you worked hard, you deserve that third slice of pizza” play in your mind.
Always replace negative thoughts that are associated with your fitness goals with positive ones. Make sure that you plan for days where you can eat what you want and do what you want.
For example, if your plan is to lose a certain amount of weight in 4 weeks, then give yourself a day when you can eat what you want and not exercise if you want.
It’s not that you’ll always use that or even that you’ll need to. But knowing that you can is often all it takes for the subconscious mind to not fight you when it comes to losing weight.
Make sure that you have a plan to get healthy and give that plan a deadline. Rather than saying, “I want to lose weight,” you need to have a specific goal with a set deadline.
Instead of being vague, you would say, “I want to lose twenty pounds in two months.” Having concrete goals not only gives you a starting place, but a finish line as well.
Losing Weight Through Dietary Tweaks
The problem that most people have when it comes to losing weight is that they think too big. Big changes can be overwhelming and since no one really likes change because it throws them off their routine, you can bet your subconscious isn’t going to be a happy camper.
So forget big.
Focus on what you can do right now to make changes to your diet that will cause the weight to come off.
This doesn’t mean that you need to clean out all of the junk food in your house and only eat food that tastes like lawn clippings.
It means you make changes that are healthier. What most people discovered is that these small dietary tweaks made them feel so much better that they never went back to eating the way they did before.
One of the biggest reasons that people overeat when it’s time for a meal is because they come to the table too hungry. They’ve waited until their stomach was so empty, it made them feel like they had to eat right now.
When you get too hungry, your sugar level drops and it can drive you to wanting to overeat before you begin eating. Some people will have a handful of cookies while waiting for dinner to get ready.
Some will grab something else that will add a lot of calories and not much nutritional value and then when the meal is ready, they’ll eat. Instead of waiting until you’re so hungry that you feel like you could eat everything in your pantry, break your meal up.
Have a small side salad first and drink a glass of water. If you do this, not only does it take the edge off your hunger, but you’ll end up not overeating during the meal.
Watch out for foods that drive up your glucose, then drop it. This can give you sugar cravings and rob you of energy. This is why you need to be careful with high fat, high calorie junk food.
You can have it, just don’t consume them often. You can also tweak your diet by switching out less than healthy choices for better ones. Instead of having white bread, switch over to bread that’s whole grain.
It’s healthier for you. You might think you can’t imagine giving up white bread for wheat bread or another healthier alternative, but you can if you take it slow. Instead of having two slices of white bread with a sandwich, make one of the slices wheat bread.
When you make changes in small increments, it gives your taste buds time to adjust to the different taste and texture. Learn to choose healthier foods in place of fatty or processed ones.
For example, instead of having a sandwich made from processed deli chicken lunchmeat, cook a chicken and use the shredded meat in your sandwich. Not only will this taste better, but it’s lower in salt and preservatives.
For people who like to have mayonnaise on their sandwiches, this can pack on the calories and it’s not healthy because of the amount of fat it contains. You can enjoy a sandwich with mustard or use a salad dressing like olive oil for a better taste and a healthier choice.
If you must eat processed foods like lunchmeat, choose the healthiest alternative such as low salt or ones without preservatives. If you drink a lot of sweet drinks, you’re probably getting too many empty calories this way.
Going cold turkey from sweet drinks to sugar-free won’t be easy because sugar can be addictive. But if you make these changes slowly, your body will adjust. Instead of putting the same amount of sugar in your coffee or tea, cut the amount into thirds or halves.
You can do the same if you’re a soda drinker. Another change that you can do to tweak your diet is to stop pouring salad dressing over your salads. These can have a lot of calories and they’re high in fat, too.
Even the low fat ones can have a lot of sodium. Instead of having salad dressing on your salad, have the dressing beside the salad and only use as much of it as you need for a little taste of the dressing.
One area that trips up a lot of people who want to get healthier is in the area of snacks. When you have a craving, it can be easy to overdo it on salty or sugary snacks.
Look for options like baked chips over regular ones. If you get a chocolate craving, choose dark chocolate over milk chocolate. If you know that you’re going to have junk food in the house and it’s one of your weaknesses, don’t bring it in if it’s a family sized bag.
Instead, opt for the single serving portions that are already bagged. They’re lower in calories and you won’t be as tempted to overeat. Any time you can tweak your diet and choose a low fat product over a high fat one but get a similar taste from the treat, then do it – such as having a frozen yogurt over a serving of ice cream.
Plain yogurt can be flavored so that it tastes as good as ice cream but is more filling and offers greater nutritional value. For example, you can add a small bit of crunchy peanut butter to the top of plain vanilla yogurt for a delicious tasting treat.
You can also tweak your diet by changing your portion sizes. Most people don’t really know what a serving size is because we’re all so used to the super-sized portions.
Start by serving yourself a third less of the food you would normally eat and as you eat, make sure you take the time to eat slower. This gives your stomach time to register that it’s full.
Toning Up Your Muscles as You Slim Down
While losing weight is important, you want to make sure that you’re also toning up your muscles at the same time. This helps fight against sagging skin if you have a lot of weight to lose.
If you have a mental picture of what you’d like your body to look like, you can achieve that picture by setting specific goals.
Losing weight and getting toned is something that anyone can accomplish regardless of what stage of health or fitness level you’re currently at.
When you tone your body, it means that you get rid of excess fat, but it also means that your muscles become leaner and stronger.
Most people think of toning the muscles in the same way they think about bodybuilding but they aren’t the same thing.
If you have a workout plan with exercises and lifting weights, then your body will become toned as you burn fat. Some people avoid toning exercises because they associate toning with gaining huge muscles and looking like a bodybuilder.
That won’t happen unless you follow the steps to build muscle like a bodybuilder. So if you’re worried about your muscles becoming too big because of toning, you can relax.
That won’t happen. You can get your body into a great, toned shaped through exercises like aerobics. This can target specific muscle groups that will give your body strength, help you lose weight, burn fat and tone your muscles.
Your arms will become defined with muscles, but not so much that you look like you’re pumping weights.
Keep in mind that the more often you take part in weight lifting exercises, the stronger your muscles will become but they won’t necessarily start to look bulky.
If you’re a woman, you might be tempted to think that you need to stick to light weights during your workout, but there’s no difference between the weights a man should lift versus what a woman should use during a workout.
Now there might be a difference as to what you’re capable of lifting, but lifting heavier weights tones your muscles better than the light ones. As you engage in weight lifting exercises, you should do about 10 reps of each.
These exercises will help your body get rid of fat and speed up your metabolism, too. If you decide to use weights to help you tone your muscles, it’s okay to start out with weights you feel comfortable with, but it’s not okay to be comfortable for long.
You need weights to be heavy enough so that they push you out of your comfort zone. One of the key factors to toning muscles is to push your body beyond what you feel you’re capable of performing.
You shouldn’t stop your repetitions if you feel like you can keep going. If it’s not hard, then it’s too easy. When you reach the point where your workout doesn’t challenge you, then it’s time to up the level.
Otherwise, you’re not gaining anything and you’re toning very little. You’re simply maintaining. If you have a choice to use lighter weights or heavier ones, choose the heavier ones.
Forego the 5 pound weights and pick up the 15 pound sets instead. Some people don’t tone while they’re losing weight because they don’t understand which exercises they should be doing.
You can tone your body with or without equipment because all you really need is resistance. You can do exercises that can target specific areas of the body or you can choose those that will give you an all over toning experience.
Exercises like jumps, dips and squats will tone your body. Cardio is a must-have when you want to tone your body. You can also do leg deadlifts. These are exercises where you alternate lifting one leg, then the other while you’re in a standing position.
Bend at the waist and extend your leg straight out behind you. You can use dumbbells while you’re doing this exercise for added resistance. Pushups are also a great toning exercise and so is planking.
You can use step-ups as well as extended triceps exercises. You can do all of these while holding hand weights. The best way to get an overall tone is to choose exercises that tone major areas of the body and create a plan using those exercises.
You simply go through each of them as part of a routine. The faster you go through the routine, the more you gain in toning and fat burning. Switch off the exercises that you do for an overall tone so that you won’t hit a plateau as you workout.
If you’re looking to make a certain area of your body more toned, then you’ll need to choose exercises that are designed to target that part of the body. You have to keep upping the level of resistance and difficulty as you work out in order to continue toning and losing weight.
Strengthening Your Core to Better Support Your Body
If you’re not sure exactly what your core muscles are, take a deep breath and then cough. Those muscles you feel tightening in your abdomen are your core muscles.
You might think that strengthening your core means you need to gain abdominal muscle, but it’s much more than that. You need to take part in core exercises because it’s the key to a good workout.
Not only that, but it’s important because stronger core muscles give you lots of benefits you might not even be aware of. Out of all the muscles you need to exercise, your core muscles are the most important.
They’re more important than having toned armed muscles and more important that having strong leg muscles because core muscles are what keeps you safe from injuries.
If your core muscles are weak, it’s easier for you to get hurt just in day to day living – let alone when you’re exercising. Poor core strength can impact how strong the rest of your body is.
It also affects your ability to move. You need your core muscles to walk or run, to sit or stand, to exercise, to dance, to clean your home, to drive in your car, to sit at your desk and the list goes on.
Every part of your life is impacted by your core muscles. Most people think that if they work on abdominal crunches or develop a six pack ab, then their core is okay.
But that’s not always the case. Your core muscles include your pelvic area, too – and it’s vital to have strong core muscles because they’re the guardians of your organs.
Your core muscles keep your organs safe as well as strengthen the spine. A weak core means weak support for the spine. This leaves you open to injuries that can cause you to develop a backache.
Some people develop a backache even without an injury and this is a classic symptom that happens when you don’t work out the core muscles. When you have a weaker center of the body, other muscles have to compensate and that’s usually the back.
This is why it can be difficult to get out of a chair or get out of bed in the mornings. It can also be why you feel stiff and achy when you do get up to move. Besides helping protect your organs and prevent backaches, your core muscles are key to having good balance.
When your workout includes routines that strengthen the core muscles, you cause your entire body to be in balance. You also increase your stability. This means you can move easier and with more flexibility – regardless of whatever it is that you’re doing.
More than any other muscle group, your body needs a strong core. You need it for your posture to prevent problems with your spine and with your breathing. In case you’re someone who never really gave much thought to your core muscles and now you’re wondering what equipment you need to buy to get into shape, the answer is none.
You can buy some tools that will help if you want to build your core muscles faster, but you can get started without them. Core exercises are those that cause you to use both your abdominal muscles as well as your back muscles.
You can take part in a deliberate workout routine, but there are things you can do at home besides a workout that can help, too. Instead of using a regular office chair, use a fitness ball.
Sitting on one of these exercise tools causes you to use the muscles in your core to keep your balance. If you’re wondering what exercises you can do to strengthen your core, the answer is plenty.
There are fun exercises you can do that are easy enough that even someone who hasn’t worked out before can use them. Yoga is an excellent choice because the various poses build strength in the core.
The movements in the routines challenge the core muscles. You can also engage in sit-ups. These are great exercises for helping your core muscles tone up.
Some people choose to swim and this is a great exercise for people who are just getting started because the water helps give support to the body while you’re working out.
Engaging in regular cycling routines also builds core muscles. Just remember, though, if you choose cycling, you need to always challenge yourself. If you cycle for five miles and never push yourself beyond that limit, you’re not challenging or strengthening your core muscles.
Doing the bridge exercises are great for the core muscles. To do this exercise, you lie flat on the ground and lift up your hips, making sure to pull in the abdominal muscles and hold them as you do it.
Crunches are great for tightening the core. You can use ones like reverse crunches or vertical leg crunches. Bicycle kicks are also great for helping strengthen the core muscles.
You can do core exercises anywhere – but the key to gaining the strength you’re looking for that will benefit your body is to do the repetitions consistently. You can start with a minimum of 10 reps for each exercise and work your way up to a higher level.
Remember when you build your core muscles, you’re improving much more than your abdomen. You’re bettering your posture, your stability and you’re gaining energy.
Energy Enhancers to Help You Get the Most Out of Life
You might not know everything there is to know about energy, but you sure can tell when it’s missing. Without energy, you can feel tired and sluggish. It can be hard to think straight and difficult to get through your day.
You might discover that it’s hard to concentrate and keep up with what you have to do at work. When you don’t have enough energy, it can be difficult to want to do anything at all.
You don’t have to live that way. You can lose weight, get toned and gain energy for a healthier life. There are several ways you can increase your energy naturally.
Sometimes, a lack of energy can be because the body is lacking something. If you don’t have the right nutrients and the right minerals, this can affect you to the point where you just don’t feel like you have the energy to do anything.
There are many different natural supplements you can take that can boost your energy levels. Studies have shown that supplements containing ingredients such as ginseng can help boost energy levels.
So can supplements that contain vitamin B12. If you decide that you’d like to use supplements to boost your energy level, look for those that contain things like L-Carnitine.
This is an amino acid that the body needs as part of the process for creating energy for the muscles. One thing you do want to avoid when buying supplements are those that contain high levels of caffeine.
This will give you an energy buzz, but it won’t last. Plus, too much of it can cause problems with the heart rhythm. Sleep is closely connected with your energy level.
You might think that because you’re in the bed for 7-8 hours each night that you’re getting plenty of sleep. But if you have a lack of energy, sleep could be the culprit.
How long you sleep isn’t nearly as important as the quality of sleep that you get every night. If you’re in the bed for 7 hours but your sleep is broken a few times throughout the night, this can cause you to feel fatigued and rob you of your energy.
Sleeping has a two-fold purpose. When you sleep, your body goes through a repair stage during one part and in another, your brain gets to work. Changes and benefits to your body occur during both REM sleep and slow wave sleep.
If these stages are interrupted, you lose energy because the body loses the benefits it would have gained. You won’t get the boost your immune system normally gets during the sleep stage.
You also won’t reap the cognitive benefits. Your body then becomes more susceptible to diseases like diabetes, heart problems and even early death. Not getting the right amount of sleep takes such a toll on your body that it robs you of your energy.
You can increase your energy simply by getting the sleep your body needs. Another thing that can boost your energy level is finding relief from stress. Anyone who’s ever dealt with stress knows just how draining it can be.
It’s draining physically and it’s draining emotionally. You can’t always get rid of all of the stress in your life, but you should take steps to eliminate the stress that you can.
For stress that you can’t do anything about – such as a job situation, what you can do is change how you deal with the stress. Rather than internalizing it, find an outlet.
Some people turn to yoga for stress relief. Others learn meditation to find the inner peace to deal with the emotions that crop up when stress is present. There’s a lot of negativity associated with stress.
Learning the art of positive thinking can also be a helpful stress relief tool that can boost your energy level. Nutrition is important when it comes to having the right energy levels.
Poor nutrition can make you feel tired and that can drain your energy. The foods that you eat either gives you energy or depletes it because what you eat affects the production of cells within the body.
Your cells have to have proper nutrition in order to do their job. Unhealthy eating habits can cause cells to be damaged. Since cells are what help give you energy, the more your cells are damaged, the less energy you’ll have.
Your body needs certain key nutrients and minerals in order to produce healthy cells. When it doesn’t get what it needs nutrition wise, it sets off a chain reaction. By eating healthy, you protect your cells that give you energy.
Exercise gives you energy. Sort of like recharging a battery. Just ten minutes of moving at a steady pace can give you as much as 120 minutes’ worth of energy. The more you move, the greater store of energy you’ll have. You don’t have to exercise vigorously to benefit from this kind of energy boost. It can be something as simple as going for a walk around your neighborhood!
