Healthy Fat Is Critical To Bodybuilding Success‏

By Ron Stucky

A basic understanding of a daily diet including dietary fat should be a key aspect of an amateur bodybuilders knowledge set. However, I have known several bodybuilders well enough to realize they do not pay this too much attention. They consciously try to eradicate a majority of fat from their diets. To make matters worse, they do not take-in the right kinds of fats, on a daily basis, that their bodies need for maximum health. In this manner key nutrients are not being consumed. Actually, proper nutrition is pivotal due to the intense nature of their training.

There are good and bad fats, and most of us have a pretty good handle on how to tell the difference. Bodybuilders, just like everyone else, need to include unsaturated fats rather than saturated animal fats. It's important to note that many of our nutritional needs like the Omega fatty acids have to be met through our diet.

Collectively the Omega acids are known as EFA's or the Essential Fatty Acids. Wild salmon and tuna are an outstanding source of the polyunsaturated Omega 3s essential fatty acids. Other sources include flax seeds, walnuts, kiwi fruit and certain meats. Mental functions and cardiovascular wellness are supported by Omega 3 essential fatty acids. Important supplements, such as EFA's, have been focused upon because of their importance in regard to hormone levels. This is something that bodybuilders should certainly be concerned about. However, it is also known that essential fatty acids play an important role with bones and joints. To directly improve the mineralization of bone mass, EFA's must be taken as a regular supplement. Our quality of life is, in part, dependent upon our joint health which should be important to everyone, not just bodybuilders. People that do a great deal of weight training put excessive stress on their joints and therefore are very interested in strengthening their bones.

Increasing testosterone levels in your body can usually be achieved by taking some bodybuilding supplements. You can actually avoid the need for such a supplement by simply eating a certain amount of foods containing saturated fats. We all know that you should not have too high a daily level of saturated fats. To sustain your cholesterol levels, and produce testosterone regularly, eating a proper daily amount of saturated fats is recommended. Therefore, it is unnecessary to spend extra money on various supplements such as testosterone enhancing products if you follow this regimen.

For anyone looking to gain mass, you may want to think about adding a measured quantity of dietary fat into your diet. If you have totally eliminated saturated fat, then you do need some so you can add some there. To increase your calorie consumption, you may want to think about consuming more EFA's. A tablespoon of flax seed contains 120 calories of essential fatty acids. This is an easy way to boost your daily caloric intake. It's important to get a small amount of saturated fats into your diet as well. If you are just starting out with bodybuilding, dietary fat intake is critical due to the added stress placed on your body. It is key to educate you self using quality sources of dependable information. The degree to which you are earnest about the sport will determine your knowledge set. Dedication does not mean you must compete: that is up to you. If you dedicate yourself to creating the body you desire it should be done effectively.

About the Author:

Ron Stucky is a expert blogger known for writing on a variety of subjects. His high-quality work can be seen at my lead system pro

 

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Healthy Eating -The Key To A Happy And Balanced Life‏

By Bob Steele

There are many ways to work on yourself and make improvements, but the best place to start is by eating in a healthier way. It's common for people to drag themselves around not feeling as energetic as they'd like. The simple fact is that your body requires certain nutrients to function at its best. Without the right balance of nutrients, your body can't perform at its true potential. Naturally, you also have to make sure you get regular physical activity and get as much sleep as you need. Feeling your best is a matter of living in a balanced way, and this starts out with a natural and healthy diet. The purpose of this article is to introduce you to some effective ways you can easily improve your daily diet.

Many people nowadays tend to overeat; so aside from eating healthier foods, cut back on your portions if you tend to overindulge. By consuming smaller amounts, you'll probably find it's easier to eat in a more balanced way. This can give you the ability to focus more on your favorite foods. If you're in the habit of ordering a super sized meal when you go out, you're definitely a victim of this trend. Now, of course, it's not just fast food joints that practice this, as lots of restaurants now dish out massive portions. A plate that is literally piled high with food is not a moderate serving. There's no law saying you have to finish what's put in front of you -you can always ask the server to wrap up some of it for you.

When starting a new diet, an eating schedule can be an effective way to add structure to it. An irregular eating pattern can wreak havoc on your body's internal rhythms. Eating too much junk food is often the end result of skipping meals, Wisely chosen snacks like nuts and fruits are a great way to avoid junk food between meals. Numerous people consume food at the very least as a result of loving the flavor. A wondrous feature of our life is consuming food. If you realize that a particular food is not healthy for you, eat less of them. It is not necessary to cut-out everything that isn't totally healthy. One way, and perhaps the most simple, is looking at your diet and seeing where you eat the most unhealthy fats, sugars and salts. The next step is to decide how to start reducing your consumption of them. Manageable to do, this idea will not hurt very much.

Some natural foods advocates recommend changing how you choose the foods you consume. This natural foods school uses a single factor to decide whether or not a certain food is worthy of consumption. If you want to follow this way of thought, you have to exclude any foods that weren't around in the 19th century. This doesn't mean we have to eat exactly as people did back then; you can use a new recipe, but it has to only contain traditional foods. This would exclude many of the convenience foods many of us have come to take for granted. If you follow this advice, you're also supposed to avoid all but three areas of the supermarket. The three permitted sections are the produce case and the meat and dairy sections.

Many businesses rake in lots of money by offering people solutions to eating the right foods, losing weight, etc. The fact is, if you use common sense and eat in moderation, you can transform your diet and health without spending much money. The main factors to keep in mind are moderation and avoiding unhealthy and overly processed foods. There are many ideas about weight loss, but the most effective involves a healthy, natural diet and moderate portions. Exercise is also essential if you want to lose weight, but all it takes is moderate but consistent activity along with a healthy diet.

About the Author:

Bob Steele is a well-known blogger who writes informative articles on different topics such as marketing, online business, home business, network marketing etc. Checkout his article on mlm marketing

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How To Quit Smoking - When You Have No Support

So you want to quit smoking, and there are other smokers in your life, work and environment, but they are not supporting you, in fact they are actively thwarting your efforts.


They may be using their smoking as a form of power and control over you, they may see your success as their failure, or perhaps they are just not very nice people.

The reasons don't really matter, what is of importance is that you want to quit for yourself, and that you ignore these people who do not have your best intentions at heart, and that is being nice to say the least. A less polite thought may be that these people would be happy to see you die a slow painful death.

They mightn't speak or say it in those terms but that is exactly what they mean.

So what do you do? You must quit, you can't give in on yourself just because others are happy to keep poisoning selves. You must be true to yourself and your future.

You can imagine how difficult it would be going cold turkey with others smoking around you, taunting you, and challenging you to not smoke. If you are an incredibly strong individual then you might just make it. But as long as you remain with these people you will always be one step away from lighting up.

Or you could load your arms and shoulders with nicotine patches, the problem is that most people will still smoke with patches on so all you end up with is a body and brain full of nicotine and you are still smoking.

Hypnosis will set you up to not just be a non smoker but to be able to be around smokers and not want to join them. You won't find their second hand smoke pleasant, but no non smoker ever does.

However during the hypnosis session you will be given a suggestion that will have you just feel sorry for the smokers, and that when you see one light up a cigarette it will make you feel good, you will feel better about your decision to quit the more others smoke, even if they smoke right in your face.

This will have an interesting effect on the non supportive smokers in your life. Your success may annoy them but soon they will stop bugging you and perhaps they may be inspired by your determination.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8028213

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The Causes of Hair Loss in Women

As a woman, your hair and hair style have an enormous impact on your self-image and how others perceive you. If you suddenly find yourself facing this, it can deeply affect your self-confidence. However, it might surprise you that you're not alone - 40% of those suffering from this are women.

This occurs for several reasons:

Hair Growth Cycle

Understanding how hair grows will make it easier to identify what causes hair loss. It is cyclical and has three stages:

1. Anagen is the growth stage and lasts from two to eight years. 90 percent of your hair should be in the anagen stage at any given time.

2. Catagen is the stage in which the follicle begins to shrink which lasts for 2-3 weeks. On a healthy scalp 1-2 percent of the follicles are in this cycle.

3. Telogen is the stage in which hair growth takes a rest and lasts 2-4 months and about 10-15 percent of your follicles are at this stage.

How Hair Loss Occurs

Everyone loses 50 to 100 hairs a day naturally as part of their growth cycle. In the case of abnormal hair loss your loss is more dramatic, e.g. it can come out in clumps as you brush, shampoo or style. When follicles begin to fall into the telogen stage but do not start the cycle again, this results in hair loss. In the case where follicles begin to shrink hair strands become thinner until the follicle actually disappears completely. If this continues more and more you will lose your hair.

The Pattern of Hair Loss in Women

As a woman, your hair tends to appear as thinning, taking place across the head with more concentration at the crown. It can be quite gradual and rarely forms a receding hairline. However if you see it falling out in clumps it can be quite alarming and may be cause for a visit to your doctor.

Discovering the Cause of Your Hair Loss

A visit to your doctor will probably result in two common tests to address hair loss to identify the cause. Thyroid and hormone issues are the most common medical causes in women and will discontinue once they've been addressed. Other common causes in women include:

• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

• Alopecia Areata (Female Pattern Baldness)

• Extreme stress

• Menopause and aging

• Medication

Counteracting Hair Loss in Women

These causes may be more challenging to combat and you will want to find treatments to help counteract the progression. You will require a hair growth product that will stimulate your follicle and stop production of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a hormone that inhibits hair follicles from producing hair. DHT eventually shrinks your hair follicles completely.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8048555

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3 Simple Cardio Workout Tips For Weight Loss

Real, rapid weight loss comes from a combination of diet, exercise and sheer determination.

As much as we'd like to believe it, there is no instant program that will hack off the poundage within a day or two. Nope, our bodies just don't work that way.

However, there are ways to optimize cardiovascular exercise over a short period of time so you see the results you want quickly. Here are three tips:

Tip #1. Figure out the best cardio workout scheme for you. Our bodies are not created equal - you probably know this already if you browse fashion or bodybuilding shows every now and then.

You can find several online tools to track workouts that will help you record your body measurements and fat percentage (body mass index), monitor your workouts and nutrition intake. Being aware of this information can help you monitor the effectiveness of the different levels of exercise that you do. You will be better able to tell whether fat is burned or muscles are developed from particular workout intensities.

This knowledge is especially useful in that it will help you to pinpoint the fat burning exercises that work best for your body.

A key point you will want to be aware of is that low intensity cardio workouts do burn fat. However, you need to build up to that optimum heart rate, and maintain it - the entire process takes longer than it would for a high intensity cardio workout to get the same results. Of course you will need to exert yourself more to perform high intensity cardio workouts - and you will feel the burn.

Tip #2. Mix it up. There's no rule that says you must stick to either only the low or the high intensity workouts to get the best results. In fact there are several physical trainers who recommend programs that alternate low intensity workouts with high intensity workouts.

You can also mix up the two intensity levels within the same workout. You can push yourself at the beginning of the workout, quickly reaching high intensity, and then slow down once your heart rate is at the desired pace, maintain that heart rate / intensity for longer than you would be capable of maintaining high intensity exercises.

Tip #3. Have fun. The cardio workouts that achieve the best results are those that keep things interesting. Most people think of working out as a chore, which is why so many never reach their fitness goals.

Don't fall into a boring routine; pound the treadmill one day and play two sets of tennis on another, mixing up your high and low intensity workouts in the process. If you're falling asleep on your stationary bike, keep your mind occupied by reading a book or watching TV. You won't realize you've been exercising for over an hour when watching your favourite show while skipping rope or jumping on a trampoline.

To achieve optimum results for rapid weight loss, pair your exercise regime with a balanced diet - and know when to eat to aid your cardiovascular activities. For higher intensity workouts, have some protein in your system but make sure to eat two hours before the exercise and then not again till an hour after. That hour is actually when your body burns fat and eating anything will distract this process.

Also, keep your metabolism up by eating small meals throughout the day instead of three large meals. Diet, exercise and sheer determination - your tools to rapid weight loss that's both safe and successful.


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Cardio Weight Loss Program

A cardio weight loss program is an exercise program made up of aerobic exercises. The cardio programs are ideal for weight management and weight loss as fat is the primary source of energy used. The definition of a cardio exercise is an exercise that elevates your heart rate to a submaximal level, and keeps it raised for an extended period of time.

There has been a lot of research done into what type and frequency of exercise works best for weight loss. The type of exercise should be submaximal in intensity. That basically means your pulse rate should be at 70% of your max during the exercise. This can be worked out with a simple calculation. To work out your maximal heart rate subtract your age from 220., then take 70% of this number to find your ideal heart rate for fat burning. For example, for a 50-year-old, the maximal heart rate is 220-50 which is 170. 70% of 170 is 119. So for a 50 year old the ideal heart rate for weight loss 119 beats per minute.

Depending on your fitness levels, walking or jogging will be the best type of exercise for weight loss. If you are unfit, walking may be enough to get your pulse to the fat burning zone. You may need to jog to raise your heart rate to the desired levels of you are fitter. Other examples of cardio exercises include cycling and swimming.

Research has shown that you should exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes, at least 4 days a week for the program to be effective. Anything more than this will only give faster bigger improvements. Anything less and you will not get the full weight loss benefits. You should get to your optimal pulse rate by the first 5 minutes, maintain it for 20 minutes, then spend 5 minutes cooling down and stretching. Cooling down and stretching is important to help prevent muscle soreness and injuries.

So lets put all this together to design you cardio program. You should pick an exercise you enjoy from the examples above. Next find what your optimal heart rate for fat burning is. If possible buy a heart rate monitor so you know exactly how intense you should be exercising. The final step is to set up a timetable and plan out what days you will exercise and set aside 30 mins for each day. You have just designed a simple yet extremely effective cardio weight loss program!

To learn more cardio weight loss programs [http://fast-way-to-lose-weight.net/cardio-weight-loss-program] and exercise tips please visit my blog [http://fast-way-to-lose-weight.net].

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_A_Johnson

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How to Keep Eyebrow Hair From Falling Out

Our eyebrows frame our face and play an important role in our facial appearance and expressions. If the hair in your brows starts falling out, you are sure to see a difference. See your doctor to rule out medical conditions that may cause hair loss if you notice a sudden difference in your eyebrows. Take steps to slow down the hair loss and regrow the hair if your doctor gives you a clean bill of health.

Steps 

1. Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet to promote optimum hair health. If your diet is lacking in nutrition, consider taking supplements. Be sure to include plenty of the following nutrients which are necessary for healthy hair growth:
   • Protein
   • Folic acid
   • Vitamins A, C, B3 and E
2. Apply your eyebrow pencil, or other products used on this area of your face gently, to avoid breaking the hairs or causing them to fall out. Always apply them in the direction that the hair grows, up and out towards your temples.
3. Stimulate eyebrow hair growth by brushing each eyebrow gently with an eyebrow brush for 2 minutes each day. Brush in the direction of hair growth to avoid damaging the hairs.
4. Coat your eyebrows with warm oil at bed time to encourage healthy hair growth. Choose almond, castor, coconut or olive oil for the best results.
   • Warm the oil by putting a small amount in a spoon and holding it over a candle flame.
   • Use your finger tip or a cotton swab to apply a liberal coat of warm oil to each eyebrow.
5. Try applying other home remedies at bedtime if the oil treatments are not working. Some people have had luck regrowing lost eyebrow hair or slowing down the rate of hair loss using:
   • The juice squeezed from a fresh onion.
   • Coconut milk drained from a fresh coconut.
   • A paste made of fenugreek seeds and water.
6. Promptly treat any skin conditions that develop on your face. Rashes, acne and other skin conditions can all make you want to scratch. Excessively scratching the skin around your eyebrows may lead to damaged and broken hairs.

Tips

• Some medications use to treat depression, arthritis, gout, high blood pressure and heart problems may cause hair loss.
• Hormonal changes sometimes cause temporary hair loss, which may also effect eyebrow hair. This may occur when starting or discontinuing birth control pills, or during pregnancy or menopause. Hair lost as a result of hormonal changes will typically grow back in a few months after hormone levels stabilize.

Warnings

• Avoid over plucking and over waxing your eyebrows. Hair that is continuously removed may eventually stop growing back.
• Hair loss can be a symptom of a serious medical condition such as diabetes, lupus or thyroid problems, among others. If you notice an excessive amount of hair loss from your eyebrows or other places on your body, see your doctor to rule out medical problems.

Sources and Citations

• http://www.natural-homeremedies.org/makeuptips/eyebrow-regrowth.htm
• http://www.beautymakeuptips.org/eyebrows/Eyebrow-Regrowth.htm
• http://www.eyebrowgrowth101.org/
•  http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-Eyebrow-Hair-From-Falling-Out

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