Archive for January 2010

Best Kept Secrets in Building Muscle Mass Fast

Bernice Eker asked:


With the fast growing popularity of health and fitness today, everyone’s just dying to know well kept secrets in building muscle mass.

Body building doesn’t depend on potions or extreme diets. You can attempt to take in a dozen eggs a day, but it won’t help you attain your dream body at all. In fact, keeping extreme diets like this one will only give you a heart attack or cause serious kidney failure. Building muscle mass depends on a well-rounded lifestyle, a gentle but consistent work out routine, and the right mentality. You can’t get instant muscles simply by drinking protein shakes all day long. It takes a lot of work, discipline, and balance.

How the pros do it

If you’ve been enrolled in a fitness gym before, you’ll notice that instructors take note of your weight, height, diets, lifestyles, and other important factors that may affect your body built. This is because there is no one way to build muscle mass fast. Every individual has a specific matrix of lifestyle and genetic factors which may affect his/her metabolism and muscle building capabilities.

The first thing you will have to do is find out what your body type is. Some people tend to be heavier around the abdomen, while others have flabbier arms, legs, and buttocks. Whatever your problem area may be, it all relies heavily in the way you eat and how much you burn energy throughout the day.

If you’re stuck in an office the whole day, and you feed on burgers and fries at least three days in a week, you’re most likely to have blocked arteries and unflattering bumpers. Salt and sugar overload throughout the week will leave your body retaining unwanted water and deadly bad fat.

Aside from improving your diet by eating leaner food products like fish and vegetables, you also need to exercise. We don’t mean carrying weights and doing lunges in your office while the boss is out. We mean taking your cardiovascular exercises more seriously than before.

In building muscle mass, you can’t forget about the importance of fat loss. You can’t depend on weights alone to fight your flabby arms because target fat loss never works, and muscles can’t really be seen with layers of fat covering it.

You should alternate your cardiovascular and strength exercises throughout the week. During your first few weeks of training, you can focus on fat loss first with 30 minutes to an hour of healthy jogging and/or running. You can lessen these and focus more on building muscle mass with strength exercises as you go further into your program.



No Nonsense Muscle Building

Using Hypnosis for Weight Loss

Mark Albertson asked:


Copyright (c) 2008 Mark Albertson

The escalation of obesity rates in this country has sparked a flurry of activity among both serious researchers and charlatans to discover the perfect weight loss method. A recent study of four diets revealed that the key to weight loss success isn’t the diet, but how closely you follow it. Investigators from Tufts-New England Medical Center (Journal of the American Medical Association, January 2005) have determined in a study of four popular diets that the key to successful weight loss is not the diet itself, but actually following the diet. In this one-year study of 160 overweight adults, the researchers split people into four diet groups:

· Weight Watchers (low calorie)

· The Zone Diet (low glycemic index)

· The Ornish Diet (low fat)

· The Atkins Diet (low carb)

The conclusion of the investigation was that all of these diets worked when the participants in the study followed them. The problem is that less than one in four were able to stay on their given diet for just this one year.

It should be noted that the hardest diet to follow was Atkins, followed by the Ornish Diet, but according to the authors of the study, “no single diet produced satisfactory adherence rates.” Hypnosis has been recognized as a both a method for helping people to adhere to their diets, and for re-training the mind to “think” like a lean person, in order to be able to give up dieting completely and to develop healthy eating habits that parallel the eating habits of lean people.

That being said, wild and exaggerated claims abound regarding hypnosis as it one of the more appealing methods dangled before the eyes of those who are hungry for a seemingly easy solution to a complex problem.

A careful review of the scientific literatures exposes many of the claims about weight loss through hypnosis on the internet as overly optimistic at best and openly fraudulent at worst.

Considerable controversy swirls around the mechanisms by which hypnosis actually contributes to weight loss. Leon (1976) suggested that hypnosis can help obese people team new healthier eating patterns and retain them. One author remarked that the hypnotic state is characterized by heightened concentration, suggestibility, and relaxation (Mott, 1982). Certain individuals are thought to be capable of achieving this state more readily than others. A so-called hypnotic “induction” whereby a hypnotist using certain procedures to bring an individual into the hypnotic state is not a prerequisite for achieving the state (Mott, 1982). Hypnosis, contrary to the claims of some intemet advertisers cannot magically reprogram people’s minds. In short, methods of hypnosis run the gamut from simple relaxation techniques to formal inductions administered by hypnotists, but should not be considered supernatural in its effects.

Studies showing weight loss as a result of hypnosis alone are few in number and suffer from methodological problems. Andersen (1985) reported that following 8 weekly treatment sessions and 12 weeks of practicing self-hypnosis subjects lost an average of 20.2 pounds. Cochrane and Friesen (1986) concluded that moderate weight loss was obtained by subjects using hypnosis. The experimental group, lost more weight than the controls and maintained the weight loss at a six month follow-up.

Mott (1982) stated that “although hypnosis is sometimes referred to as a method of treatment, it is more accurate to regard hypnosis as a facilitator of a number of different treatment methods.” The study concludes that the use of hypnosis for a moderate weight loss is effective using hypnotherapy. Hypnosis Plus Behavioral Weight Management A number of studies indicate that hypnosis combined with a behavioral weight management program contributes significantly to weight loss. Bolocofsky, Spinler, and Coulthard-Morris (1985) revealed that the addition of hypnosis to a behavioral program designed to alter eating patterns increased the amount of weight loss at 8-month and 2year follow-ups. Both the behavioral and hypnosis programs were tailored to each subject individually in the study. Bolocofsky et al. (1984) acknowledged that “the less a person weighed at the start of the program the more likely he was to lose weight and maintain the reduction”. Hypnosis combined with behavioral weight management seems to be more effective for small amounts of weight loss. Another study of 45 females found that supplementing a basic self-management program with hypnosis resulted in a slightly greater amount of weight loss at a 3-month follow-up (Barabasz and Spiegel, 1989). The group for which individualized hypnotic suggestions were developed lost more weight than those exposed only to a group procedure. Kirsch (1996) noted a weight loss of 6.00 pounds without hypnosis and 11.83 pounds with hypnosis based on a meta-analysis of six studies. Allison and Faith (1996), however, disagreed and maintained that hypnosis only enhances cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy slightly if at all. Long-term individualized hypnosis combined with a behavioral weight management program appears to contribute to modest weight loss and helps maintain it.

Hypnosis operates mainly as a way to increase participants’ attention to suggestions of behavioral programs as well as to reinforce their weight loss. Studies using behavioral treatments successfully “typically have developed incentive systems to bridge the gap between the short-term -reinforcers provided during treatment and long-term goal of weight reduction” (Bolocofsky et al., 1985). Hypnosis can fulfill this role by stepping in as a psychological reinforcer. Hypnosis may assist subjects in learning positive eating behaviors and creating healthy long-term patterns of food intake. Subjects are then more likely to incorporate the rules of a particular program into their behavioral regimes (Bolocofsky, 1985). Kroger (1970) points out the similarities between hypnosis and behavioral treatments which share an emphasis on visualization and imagination. The literature suggests that hypnosis is an ideal addition to behavioral weight management programs which tend to need supplementation to achieve long-term results.

The Hodgepodge Problem in Weight Loss Studies The use of subjects of varying ages and backgrounds represents one challenge that plagues studies of hypnosis as a useful treatment for weight loss. Andersen (1985) utilized subjects ranging in age from 21-56 years, a considerable spread. Subjects in another study ranged in age from 17 to 67 resulting in considerable potential differences between the control group and the hypnosis group (Bolocofsky et al., 1985). The fact that subjects were not matched with regard to age could exaggerate results of weight loss as a result of hypnosis that may more accurately be attributed to age differences. McCabe, Jupp, and Collins (I985) suggested a tendency for younger women to drop out of weight loss programs relative to older women leading to a possible masking of potential effects of age. Bolocofsky et al. (1984) indicated that successful hypnotic weight loss participants were higher in self-control, weighed less at the start of the study, married, and more expressive. A wide variety of factors influence whether a given subject will lose weight through a hypnotic weight loss program. Anderson (1985) cites the absence of matched subjects as a weakness in her experiment. More studies with subjects closely matched on various characteristics should be conducted to substantiate claims about the effectiveness of hypnosis for weight loss when combined with a behavioral program.

Most studies require weekly consultation with a hypnotist for 8 weeks or more in addition to self-hypnosis (Bolocofsky et al., 1984; Bolocofsky et al., 1985, Andersen, 1985; Cochrane & Friesen, 1986; McCabe et al., 1985). Internet advertisers who claim weight loss will occur following a single hypnotic session, especially a group hypnotic session, are frauds selling dreams to desperate customers. Allison and Faith (1996) underscore that “there is currently no panacea for the treatment of obesity and hypnosis is no exception”. Treatment using hypnosis then is not a quick and easy way out of weight troubles. In order to achieve any benefits from its use, hypnosis must be practiced on a regular basis for a significant period of time.

Conclusions and Limitations

Hypnosis has been shown to be an effective treatment for low to moderate amounts of weight loss. One qualification of this statement is that the hypnotic program should be tailored to each individual. Hypnosis is a process by which an individual enters a state of relaxation and heightened suggestibility, Transformation of the brain through some mysterious process defines only the hypnosis of pseudoscientists. Quick-fix hypnosis is probably much less effective than an 8 week program using both in-session hypnosis, at-home self-hypnosis, and behavioral weight management. The only people who claim hypnosis is easy, simple, and quick are those trying to sell people on their program. The largest obstacle in weight loss is its long-term retention, but follow-ups of hypnosis as a weight loss treatment have been conducted at the longest after two years. Weight loss tapes lack scientific evidence to support their success and should be purchased with this knowledge in mind. Weight loss through hypnosis has been largely ignored by scientists and more studies with control groups and large subject pools are required to understand its action and import.



The Truth About Abs

How to Practice Relaxation Meditation

Justin Stewart asked:


The basis of almost every form of meditation throughout the world is relaxation. But the practice of relaxation meditation is far more complex than an individual deciding that they will seek to relax and thus meditate. Relaxation meditation takes careful understanding of what relaxation truly means, and then careful practice to truly attain the benefits that are available.

What does it mean to relax? Some people understand relaxation to simply mean the absence of any type of hard or taxing activities that would otherwise provide physical or mental strain on one’s body. Unfortunately, this understanding of the term relaxation is far too simple in nature. True relaxation is achieved when one is fully able to remove their minds from the toils of every day living. True relaxation is gained when every day worries can be left behind without any lasting stain. True relaxation occurs when individuals are no longer bothered by the trivial pains of their physical existence and are instead able to cast their conscious minds to a higher plane in order to gain a greater understanding of the world around them.

So in order to participate in relaxation meditation, one cannot simply sit down and stare into space and expect enlightenment to occur. Instead, techniques must be employed to fully exhaust one’s mental and physical state to a point of relaxation that allows full contemplation without interruption from the physical world. Relaxation meditation can be achieved through a variety of practices.

Some practitioners find it helpful to focus on a particular type of music when they are seeking the benefits of relaxation meditation. Not all forms of music would be helpful in this pursuit, however. Music that is chosen should be complimentary to a state of relaxation instead of distracting. Music without words should be used to attain relaxation meditation, as words will simply give the practitioner a new focus instead of allowing their conscious minds to attain focus independently. In addition, the music used for relaxation meditation should be soft and soothing, not loud and disruptive. The music should allow the mind to float to a higher level instead of being so all-consuming that the bonds of physical life are restraining.

Practitioners of relaxation meditation may also find it very helpful to use lighting as a way to attain total relaxation and thus enlightenment. Instead of harsh and bright light that create an uncomfortable atmosphere, soft and dim settings should be used to foster a sense of peace. One’s vision is often important when practicing relaxation meditation. When lights are adjusted to optimum levels, they can then focus their inner minds visually on a particularly desirable image or scene that will help them to further leave behind physical strains so that their minds can attain mental enlightenment.



The Fat Burning Furnace

Exercise for Fast Weight Loss

Bella Mclaine asked:


Today mostly people are suffering from the same problem of weight loss. People who are facing problem due to overweight they need easy and natural way of losing weight. So people take consults to doctor, read book or join the weight loss program. But if you want loss your weight in proper way then you have make your mind stronger because you stop spicy and high calorie containing food. But today people join weight loss program and eat spicy food then they say that we are not losing weight till that much of years.

Here are some best tips to loss your weight:

Diet Control

Controls on your diet don’t eat spicy and high calorie related food. Eat healthy food containing raw green vegetable, juice, fruits, and low calorie diet with protein rich foods. But don’t stop eating or on dieting because if you make such mistake then you don’t loss weight but you loss your health. So, Eat proteins, Vitamins & Minerals and mainly water will help you to loss your weight because water digest you food and remove indigestive food from your body. So, drink water as much as possible.

Regular Exercise:

Regular exercise makes help you in losing weight. Best and easy way of losing weight is walk early in the morning and evening. Do exercise related to your abs and hips. Because mostly fats are collected in hips, thighs and buttocks area of body. Due to increase fat in your body may suffer from diseases of intestine, heart, gastrointestinal, diarrhea, cellulite and many more. So regular exercise makes your body fit and it also increase your digestion power. If fats increases in your body then it decrease your digestion power. So don’t eat food that contains fats.

Weight Loss Program:

There is no need to join any weight loss program because if join any weight loss program and you are not following the simple but hard diet control rule then you don’t see any change in your body. It is not necessary to join any weight loss program but you can make your program to loss your weight. Simple make a chart of morning to evening workout. Make a simple list of your daily diet containing proteins, vitamins, green vegetables etc. and exercise related to your abs, thighs etc. I am surely telling you that you will loss your weight without ant type of Weight Loss program, pills or instrument.

Take Extra Care:

But you have to take extra care of your body during this program which you have made for you. Because if you eating less then you will face weakness in your body and you also become ill. So take of your body.

If you follow the above mention tips in your daily life then I will surely tell you that you that you will loss weight with in months. But this is a home made program so it takes time but it is perfect your Body and health. It has no side effect and not even a chance of weakness and illness in your body.



The Fat Burning Furnace

Something About Weight Loss Pills You Must Know

Banko Stoianov asked:


Obesity is now a growing concern for many people worldwide. If you are obese, you are likely to experience the health risks that go with this condition such as hypertension. That is why it does make sense that you start losing weight as early as possible. But losing weight is never easy. You have to carefully select a weight loss program that will work for you like taking natural weight loss pills.

Natural Weight Loss Pills vs. Prescription Weight Loss Pills

If you want to lose weight the natural way, then you better choose natural weight loss pills over the prescription weight loss pills. Although prescription weight loss pills are proven effective, some of these are blamed to have several side effects. These pills are found to be habit forming and some people experience dizziness, diarrhea, blurred vision, and an upset digestive system after taking these pills. That is why most people nowadays are more aware of the importance of good health and doing things the natural way.

Choosing your Natural Weight Loss Pills

So, before you choose one, you have to know exactly what you want out of your natural weight loss pills. Do you want your appetite to be suppressed? Do you want a pill that eats up excess glucose in your system after you eat? Or do you want pills that help eliminate toxins from your body? Whatever you want, you can find the appropriate natural weight loss pills that can help you achieve your weight loss goal.

Losing weight may not be an easy task. But with the right natural weight loss pills at hand, you can achieve your goal without having to worry about side effects. Losing weight the natural way is really a good option. But it is still best if you combine this with a balanced diet and regular exercise.

A latest weight loss drug pills is a true diet pills for treatment of obesity. weight loss pills is a weight loss and smoking cessation drugs which was approved in UK and Europe. For overweight patients, there are many solutions like dieting, fasting and exercise. But these solutions are difficult and not every obese person can do, so diet pills are best solution for weight loss. You may choose dieting to lose that extra pound of weight, unconscious of the fact that it makes you lose fat. Dieting is risky and makes you prone to perilous diseases. So, is there any other helpful option existing that can help you to loose weight? Yes, weight loss pills are the effective alternative for weight loss.

This statement stands true for people who want to bring about the unworkable. What all matters, is your approach towards life. The same applies to obese people, if you want to loose that extra weight then weight loss pills combined with healthy diet and exercise will provide the purpose.

There are many benefits for weight loss pills like appetite suppressant, easy and quick way to loose weight and smoking cessation drug. Currently weight loss pills helps obese people in UK and Europe to get rid from this epidemic disease. If you have made up your mind to buy weight loss pills, then you can either buy it from a nearby pharmacy shop or from the comfort of your home through internet. In case you are looking for good quality weight loss pills that too at cheap rates, then you need to do a little effort.

There are always some side effects of weight loss drugs, weight loss pills has also sole side effects like dry mouth, constipation and high blood pressure so you should read carefully all side effects before buying weight loss pills. You should read all precaution for safety and after consulting with doctor you should start taking weight loss pills diet pills.



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