The Extreme Hassle of Going to the Gym

So the holidays are over, you had too much to eat, and you are now having trouble fitting into that pair of pants you like so much to wear. It's time to burn off that excess fat and flatten that tummy, and get yourself to the gym; however, there is one problem... your desire to go is nonexistent. There are many reasons people avoid the gym.

Time

Most people are so consumed with their everyday life. Whether it is long hours at the office, spending quality leisure time with family and friends, pursuing hobbies, shopping, taking care of the kids or anything else that occupies our daily lives, it almost seems impossible to make time for the gym. People feel they have to spend a great deal of time at the gym to achieve their personal fitness goals, and spending hours on cardio equipment, lifting weights, or even stretching, just never seems to fit in their busy schedules. Throw in the time it may take to drive there and back as well as the time it takes to change into your gym clothes before your workout and clean up and change back into your street clothes after your workout, it's no wonder people feel they haven't the time.

Inexperience

Many people who are new and inexperienced when it comes to personal fitness are usually intimidated when they walk into a weight room. They see all this equipment and really have no idea what to do or how to use any of it. Although some machines have instructions, it is still unclear to a lot of "exercise newbies" on which exercises to perform, how many reps to do, how much weight to use, and so on, to achieve their personal goals. Personal trainers are usually available, but the high costs usually turn people off.

Self-consciousness

It can be very intimidating to some who do not have the "perfect" body when they walk into a gym and see others who have "Mr./Ms. Universe-type" bodies. Many of these people feel very self-conscious about this to the point where they feel they are being judged or even laughed at. They would rather avoid the embarrassment.

Money

Many gyms exist, but the bulk of them are very costly to join, and if you are on a tight budget, even the cheapest gyms can just seem unaffordable. Although personal fitness is important, keeping a roof over our heads and food on the table is more so.

Unpleasant environment

Despite the fact that many gyms are maintained rather nicely, some people still don't like the idea of being in an environment that is filled with sweaty and smelly people. They are grossed out by the idea of having to wipe off sweat from every machine they want to use or use a community locker room and shower with strangers. Furthermore, unless you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to the gym during "non-peak" hours, gyms can be very crowded and the wait time to use various items of equipment can be very long. Others are simply turned off by all the noise that can be heard at a busy gym.

In conclusion, many valid reasons exist as to why a lot of people don't commit more time going to the gym. Even though they want to get into a more desirable shape and stay healthy, the gym simply provides more excuses not to do so. They want to find a way to eliminate these excuses so they can accomplish their personal fitness goals.

Read More

How To Look And Feel Fitter And Firmer By New Year's Day WITHOUT Going Without

On average people put on 5-7lbs over the Christmas period, however, there are people who put on a stone or even two stone.

Although this weight gain seems to be the norm, it doesn't have to happen to you.

In fact, you can look and feel fitter and firmer by New Years Eve without going without.

If you are like most people you will want to enjoy your food and maybe even have the odd alcoholic drink over Christmas. With the right strategy in place you can still do this whilst toning up and even losing weight.

Having a strategy will mean you can still have the things you want, but it doesn't mean you can go overboard. It just means plans will be put in place to limit the effects of indulging yourself over the festive period.

So what plans can you put in place over the Christmas period which can help you look and feel fitter and firmer by New Years Eve without going without?

Strategy 1 - Before the big night of indulgence

If you know you have a big night out planned of eating and drinking, then before you go out make sure you do a heavy weight training session. This is because it works with the insulin response caused by eating carb rich foods.

When you eat foods high in carbs, it releases your storing hormone insulin. Most of the time this is a bad thing as it leads to food being stored as fat. However, if you do a heavy weight training session before you eat a meal high in carbs then instead of insulin telling your body to store the food as fat, it tells your body to store the food in the muscle. This will help you to gain muscle rather than gain fat.

When I say a heavy weight training session it is relative to the person and their current strength. Whatever fitness level you are you will want to be lifting weights for anywhere between 6-12 reps to failure. It is also best to do a full body workout rather than working on a few specific muscle groups. This is because the more muscles you work, the more muscles will receive the food in order to build bigger and stronger. If you can't get to the gym to use weights, you can always do a bodyweight workout at home instead.

Strategy 2 - During the big night of indulgence

During your big nights out over the Christmas period make sure you fill up on protein and water before you eat your deserts and drink alcohol. This will help blunt the effects of weight gain due to eating excess carbs and drinking alcohol. Carbs alone or carbs and fat produce a massive insulin response which leads to fat gain, however, if you add in protein then it decreases the insulin response. Even though you will be doing a heavy weight training session before the meal to work with the insulin response to help you build muscle, you still want to blunt the insulin response as much as possible. This is because even though it will be pushing the food to the muscle because of the workout, too much insulin can still lead to fat gain as well as muscle gain.

By filling up on protein and water first is a great way to ensure you can have your treats with as little damage as possible to your physique.

Strategy 3 - End of the big night of indulgence

At the end of the night, whether you are indulging in foods you normally wouldn't eat or if you are drinking alcohol it is important that you go to sleep as early as possible.

It is the lack of sleep which turns a night of treating yourself into a few days, a week or even a month on continuous cheating.

During the night when you are asleep is when your hormones reset, however, if you go to sleep too late and don't give your hormones enough time to reset, then the next day your hormones are out of whack. This then leads to uncontrollable cravings for food and turns your 1 night of treating yourself into a longer binge.

Ideally you would still want to be going to sleep by 10.30 pm, however, if you are going to a Christmas party it may not finish until the early hours of the morning. If this is the case then go home and go to sleep as early as possible. The earlier you go to sleep the better and the less chance you will have struggling with cravings the next day.

Before you go to sleep it would also be a good idea to drink a large glass of water, especially if you have been drinking alcohol. Dehydration is another reason why people have uncontrollable cravings the next day as they mistake the signs of dehydration as sings of hunger.

Strategy 4 - The day after the big night of indulgence

The day after treating yourself is very important as it dictates whether it remains just a treat or if it turns into a binge. It also contributes to whether the night before is going to lead to weight gain or not or even possibly helps you to lose weight and tone up.

The morning after your treat night it is a good idea to go for a walk for at least an hour before you eat any food. This will help increase your metabolism and fat burning, however, it will also help de-stress your body and lower cortisol to help prevent weight gain around the midsection. You should also make sure you drink lots of water, especially if you have been drinking alcohol. Usually it is recommended you drink 1 litre for every 25kg of bodyweight, but if you have been drinking alcohol then you will want to drink at least 1.5 litres of water of every 25kg of bodyweight in order to re-hydrate your body. Re-hydrating the body is essential in order to recover quickly from the effects of the alcohol.

The foods you eat the day after indulging yourself are extremely important. Because of eating high carb foods or drinking alcohol the day before, it is important to have a low carb day. This means you should stick to meat, fish, eggs, vegetables and nuts only. Alternating high carb days with low carb days is a good way to trick your body into losing fat and overcoming a weight loss plateau. Ideally you would do this using natural carbs which are Elimination Diet friendly, however, as you are have been treating yourself then it is a great way to limit the negative effects and manipulate your treats into your favour to help you lose weight. This is definitely not a long term solution, but it is a good short term solution so you can have your treats and still work towards your goals.

It is also a good idea to exercise the day after your night out as well. You either want to do another heavy weight training session to build muscle or a high intensity interval training workout to burn off the calories from the night before. Your high intensity interval training session should last no longer than 30 minutes, this is because your body will be under stress by the food you ate the day before or due to the alcohol. Exercising intensely for over 30 minutes will cause the body too much stress and will cause you more harm than good so you want to keep your workout short and sweet.

Another tip is to take milk thistle. Milk thistle helps support your liver in the detoxification process. Taking milk thistle the day after drinking alcohol or eating foods which are usually banned will help your liver to detox the alcohol or the toxic substances in the foods faster so your liver can get back to burning fat.

If you use these 4 strategies around any nights out you have planned or any time you are planning on treating yourself to usually banned foods, then it will keep you on track towards your goals and will mean you don't have to go without over Christmas and you can still be feeling fitter and firmer by New Years day.

These strategies won't help you lose a stone in a week or produce amazing results (I'm sure you wouldn't be expecting that anyway if your drinking alcohol and eating chocolate), but it will help you to stay on track and lose a couple of pounds over the Christmas period whilst everyone else is gaining weight.

If you have any friends or family members you care about that you don't want to gain weight over Christmas then make sure you share this article with them.

Your Coach For Life

Shaun McGill

Shaun McGill is a Level 1 Health Coach at Dax Moy Personal Training Studio in Islington. He is also a proud Geordie loving life in London.

Read More

Weight Loss Tips: Naturally Lose Weight While Going About Your Hobbies

Contrary to what most people believe, weight loss workouts do not have to be time-consuming and demanding. In fact, it is possible for one to lose weight effortlessly and without the use of drugs and other artificial fat loss methods. Losing weight can be fun because it can be done when you are going about your hobbies. The following are weight loss tips that can be used to make fat loss workouts easy.

There are many people who find joy in making discoveries about nature. While most people usually set aside a particular period during the year to do this, it is possible to go about this hobby without necessarily spending a lot of time and money. In fact, it is possible to take part in your hobby almost every day of your life. You can always start by visiting places around your home. Most people usually overlook the joys of visiting places around their homes. An added advantage of sightseeing around your home is that it can also be an opportunity to exercise and shed off some extra calories. This can however be achieved only when you leave your car at home and go about your hobby on foot. You will be surprised at how many things you always miss when driving about your place. You can also take some friends along for some company to make this simple weight loss workout more exciting.

There are many women who profess their love for shopping. Some women even find shopping relaxing. What most of these women do not know is the fact that it is possible to actually take shopping as part of their weight loss workout sessions. To lose weight while shopping, all that one has to do is to stop using the trolley and instead make the basket his or her favorite shopping friend. Using the basket to carry groceries and any other materials is an effective way for one to exercise his or her upper body. This is so because carrying the basket around is almost the same as carrying weights, something which most people do not realize since they are usually engaged in something that their brain has not been trained to perceive as a weight loss exercise.

Watching movies and TV shows is one of the most common hobbies. Studies show that most people usually spend a significant amount of their time in front of a television. Since this is something that most people love to do, it can also be used to sneak in some weight loss workout sessions into your daily routine. This is so especially during the advert breaks that are so common in most channels. Running on the spot and doing some crunches while waiting for your favorite program to resume can be an effective and painless way to effectively lose weight.

Stewart is an author, writer and coach on Rapid Fat Loss and writes on The Best Fat Loss Workouts. His efforts have been instrumental in helping thousands of men and women to not only lose weight healthily, but to also live healthier and happier lives. Click on the links for more from him.

Read More

Crazy Exercises That Are NOT Going to Help You Lose Weight

Could not find default endpoint element that references contract 'TranslatorService.LanguageService' in the ServiceModel client configuration section. This might be because no configuration file was found for your application, or because no endpoint element matching this contract could be found in the client element.
Could not find default endpoint element that references contract 'TranslatorService.LanguageService' in the ServiceModel client configuration section. This might be because no configuration file was found for your application, or because no endpoint element matching this contract could be found in the client element.

We're questioning the Sanity of Humans: 4 of the Strangest Exercise Devices of all Time

In one of my previous posts I showcased just some of the crazy claims regarding diets people have done over the years. So, as a compliment to that I've come up with a showcase of some of the amazingly absurd fitness products produced and purchased through the years. Here's a list of a few of the most horrifying and bizarre products ever seen on this green earth.

Horse Riding Fitness Ace

If you like to ride a horse in front of the TV, and who doesn't, this is the product for you. The machine was created In Korea and used to simulate a horse ride. It claimed to aid core strengthening among other areas. However, aside from looking crazy it was renowned for causing RSI and met few of its health claims. It's a device for those who like a walk (or ride) on the wild side, it looks bizarre in the home and will most likely do more harm than good.

Face Trainer

This device claims it can help build muscles and tone your face through the use of repetitive movement. It was sold in the US. It essentially looks like a neoprene version of Hannibal Lector's mask. The device supposedly works 44 muscles in the face and helps them in becoming stronger and creates a natural lift. According to experts it's in no way effective and simply looks silly. The best you can hope for is that the exercises that are associated with the device will provide some tone.

Hawaii Chair

The idea behind this is novel - you just sit there and the exercise is done for you. It's perfect for losing weight while at work, watching TV and any other sedimentary time. It also claims it helps strengthen the core, buttocks and legs. However, according the experts a rotating chair like this would damage the spine and do little to strengthen the body.

Tread Mill Bike

The tread mill bike is an interesting concept and one that looks as bizarre as it is. The bike uses a tread mill on a scooter shaped device to power it instead of pedals. Aside from the obvious issues with balance; it makes no sense at all - why not just run where you're going? It's possibly the strangest piece of exercise equipment ever conceived but on the upside it gave us a giggle.

There is no magic pill to losing calories, only time tested behaviours that produce results. Aside from looking foolish, these devices can even cause injury - so, next time you're on QVC - maybe change the station.

About the Author:

Victoria C S Wills is a world famous expert in Weight Loss and she works with you to ensure your success. If you would like your FREE personal weight loss report from Victoria please come to http://www.nubeginnings.co.uk/. Simply enter your details and Victoria's personal report will be with you ASAP.

Read More

Fitness Success: Motivations to Keep You Going

Could not find default endpoint element that references contract 'TranslatorService.LanguageService' in the ServiceModel client configuration section. This might be because no configuration file was found for your application, or because no endpoint element matching this contract could be found in the client element.
Could not find default endpoint element that references contract 'TranslatorService.LanguageService' in the ServiceModel client configuration section. This might be because no configuration file was found for your application, or because no endpoint element matching this contract could be found in the client element.

What keeps you motivated to be physically fit? Is it your family? a job? a new love interest you're trying to impress? or do you just want to fit into your favorite jeans again (the one that surprisingly seemed to have shrunk)? Every individual has their own reason to keep going in every aspect of their life. Acquiring motivation is important when you are setting up a short-term or even long-term goal. Your ambitions need to be stimulated in order for you to push harder to get what you want.

Goals should be measurable and realistic. You can't expect to lose 20 pounds in 1 week; it is a process that takes time and patience. Accomplishing a personal goal to lose weight is driven by reasons that encourage you to keep pushing and not give up, especially if you don't see results instantly. Gaining self confidence, seeing positive results, and being healthy are common motivational factors to consider in order to get rid of old habits and start living a healthier lifestyle.

Self-confidence

Whether you admit it or not, you know you want to look good. Attaining a good physical appearance will give you more self-confidence to be socially assertive and not worry about what others will say. You learn to be content with your body but at the same time still strive to be better. Engaging in physical activities stimulates the brain and helps maintain its functions. This means if you treat your body right, your brain will return the favor by boosting your confidence and keeping you happy.

Positive Results

In order for you to stick to a workout program, you must be determined to work hard. If you give up how are you going to see the positive effects from all your blood sweat, and tears? You won't know what joy is until you see yourself achieving your goals, especially when you know you have worked hard to achieve it. The idea of finally being able to fit comfortably in your old jeans, or walk a couple flights of stairs without feeling like you are going to have a heart attack, is a reward in itself.

Health

Your well-being should be on top of your priority list. If you have an unhealthy lifestyle then you are more likely headed right in the direction of being prone to illnesses, injuries, even death. Your health in itself should be the main reason why you chose to turn your life around in the first place. Like the saying goes, health is wealth. Aside from your physical health, your mental and emotional health will also be benefited. Many men and women have experienced a more stress-free and optimistic entity as a result of their healthier habits.

Altogether, these motivational factors will play significant roles in urging you to continue with what you have already started. No great accomplishment can be completed if you surrender without seeing any results beforehand. Take a risk; no one ever said that the road to fitness success was going to be easy, right? Focus on your desire to be more physically attractive, to receive positive results, and to be healthy from the inside out. These motivations are your keys to fitness success which will benefit you in the years to come.

If you like this article comes share you ideas with me at http://4minutesfatlost.com/

Also, i found a great produce that is really great for weight loss here http://4minutesfatlost.com/pure-ketone-plus/

Read More