Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Articles, General tips | Posted on 28-03-2010-05-2008
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I remember my first grapevine better than my first kiss (admittedly forgettable). I was 16 and wanted to shape up for a family trip to Cancun. In my oversize Forenza T-shirt, I stuck out in the Hi/Lo class filled with ponytailed moms in classic 1987 aerobics garb: Reebok high-tops, leggings, and thong leotards. After warming up with step-taps and marches in place, the impossibly fit instructor, the only one in the mirrored studio who truly deserved thong status, called out for a grapevine to the left. I watched as the class wove around me, intertwining their feet for eight counts and ending with a rhythmic hop and clap. Eight more counts to the right, and call me a fast learner I was part of the grapevine amoeba. Back and forth we went as Whitney Houston belted out, “I wanna dance with somebody” I was euphoric. I could’ve danced with my fellow Hi/Lo-ers through the entire Whitney album.
Thus began my first love affair with the gym. I spent endless hours Hi/Lo-ing and thrived on being part of the group. Unlike most girls my age, I didn’t have a boyfriend and I actually got along with my mother. In other words, most of the time I felt like a loner. But in Hi/Lo, I got to be another grape on the vine.
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Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Physical activity | Posted on 25-03-2010-05-2008
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Someone who increases the level of physical activity above usual, but maintains the same diet and calorie intake, will almost certainly lose weight. No matter if you hate gyms – even light exercise, such as a short 20 minute walk or visiting a dancing class, will be beneficial if done most days of the week. If you are on a light diet or taking Green Tea or other supplement increasing physical activities is even more efficient and you will lose weight even faster.
Interesting fact: Every single time you exercise more than usual, you burn calories and fat.
There are lots of different ways to increase the amount of physical activity you do. Team sports and games, aerobics or martial art classes, running, walking, swimming and cycling will all improve your fitness levels.
I will write more deep about physical activities in future posts.
Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in General tips | Posted on 22-03-2010-05-2008
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You should change the way you eat and start cutting those calories in order to start losing that fat and getting closer to the body that you would want to have. Below are some good weight loss recommendations:
- Skipping one or two high-calorie items is a good place to start when cutting calories. For example, you could skip your morning latte or that bowl of ice cream you always have after dinner. Think about what you eat and drink each day and identify items you could cut out. If you think that skipping your indulgence will leave you with a craving, try a low-calorie substitution. Avoid junk-food and all sorts of *bad* snacks which have a lot of calories.
- Stay away from sweetened bottle drinks, especially sodas. All those colas and fizzy drinks are sweetened with sugar and sugar means calories.
- Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Also try to replace fruit juice from a pack with a fresh juice or fresh fruits.
- Downsize your kitchenware. The human mind works in mysterious ways. It turns out that using smaller bowls, plates, and containers can subconsciously influence how much you serve yourself. Even nutrition experts are victims of this phenomenon; when 85 of them were given a random mix of small and large bowls and scoops, those who got larger bowls served themselves 31% more ice cream, and added on another 14.5% if they had bigger scoops!
I will add some more tips and tricks how to decrease the amount of calories you consume later.
Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in General tips | Posted on 21-03-2010-05-2008
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This is the basis of any diet or weight loss methods, you need to know how many calories you consume on average per day. From now on you should start counting your daily calories (you can use electronic calorie counters or just put it down on paper). Usually you can find the amount of calories of a product on its label (look for kcal). I also suggest USDA National Nutrient Database to find information about calories, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, carbohydrates, protein, and fiber in different products.
Now all this information in this and previous posts should be enough for you to determine your body index and set a goal of calories to cut per day. For fast but still safe results it is recommended to cut 15-30% of your daily amount of calories (depends on your lifestyle, sex and BMI).
Warning: Keep in mind this general rule of thumb: women should not go below 1200 calories and men should not go below 1800 calories a day. Your body burns up most of its daily calories just by keeping your body alive — even while you’re asleep! It needs fuel (calories) to do this.
Interesting Fact: A calorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. The calories in food are actually kilocalories or 1000 calories. When we say that a carbohydrate like sugar has 4 calories per gram, we really mean that it has 4 kilocalories per gram. This means that one gram of sugar has enough energy to raise the temperature of 1000 grams of water by 4 degrees Celsius. The calories in food provide a measure of the energy content of the food.
Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in General tips | Posted on 20-03-2010-05-2008
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On this blog I will post most popular weight loss tips and methods that have proved to be very effective if you want to lose weight as fast as possible.
Please keep in mind that loosing weight too fast might be the wrong way to choose for some people, it is recommended that you should consult with your doctor before trying these weight loss tips.
Share your own experience if it has not been covered in my posts.
