This is a blog about my attempts to lose weight, get fit, get healthy and avoid diabetes.
To keep your belly in check, remember the acronym SED: Strength training to preserve muscle mass, Exercise aerobically to burn fat, and your Diet should be healthy, calorie-controlled, and include heart-healthy fats.
A diet pill which claims to flush out 25 per cent of the fat from food is being made available over the counter in Britain for the first time this week.
'Miracle' diet pill goes on sale
But slimmers hoping for a quick fix are being warned Alli (also known as orlistat) has side effects including diarrhoea.
And the pills aren't cheap either - a month's supply costs £49.95 while two weeks' supply will be sold at £32.95.
But its makers claim Alli can dieters shed 50 per cent more fat than if they embarked on a healthy eating and exercise regime without it.
It works by absorbing about 25 per cent of the fat from food, thereby preventing it being turned into extra pounds by the body.
Tablets will be available to adults with a body mass index (BMI) of 28 or over, following a quick consultation with a pharmacist.
Makers GlaxoSmithKline said all pharmacists in the UK have been offered training to help them correctly identify a person's BMI and ask them suitable "fielding" questions regarding their motivation for taking the drug.
When you eat a certain balance of basic food components—protein, fat, and carbohydrates in very specific proportions—you can deactivate a gene that produces triglycerides. Triglycerides wind up as body fat, typically in the abdominal region, when they are too plentiful.
Fortunately, you don't have to analyze everything you eat to deactivate this fat-producing gene.
This is how you can lose pounds—and that stubborn belly fat—while still eating the foods that you love.
To drop pounds with lightning speed:
Make a clean sweep. Rummage through your refrigerator and pantry and dump everything that's high in sugar or high fructose corn syrup and white flour.
Go the whole 9 yards. Replace all those foods with whole-grain breads and cereals, 100 percent whole-wheat pasta, lots of fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, and lean protein.
Add this delicious, healthy fat to turbocharge your resting metabolism. The avocado in your guacamole is a terrific weight-loss tool because it is high in monounsaturated fat. This heart-healthy fat, also found in extra virgin olive oil, not only satisfies your hunger better than fast-burning carbs will, but it actually boosts your basal metabolic rate—the calories your body burns 24/7!
Control binge eating. A lot of people eat healthfully all day long only to blow it by uncontrolled snacking late at night. Try this strategy: Eat the same snack every night—and, no, we're not talking Ben & Jerry's. Choose a cheese stick or a bowl of cereal. In one study, people who ate cereal 90 minutes after dinner dropped 4 pounds in a month!
Eat often. Forget three square meals and no snacks. Keep your metabolism revving high by eating four to six times a day.
1. Begin with 3 full body weight training workouts every 48-hours.
2. Take your body weight in pounds and multiply it by 15 to determine your daily caloric intake if you want to gain weight.
3. Perform only 1 exercise per body part each full-body workout but perform a different exercise for each body part every workout. By the end of the week you’ll have hit each muscle group three times from three different angles.
4. Consume carbohydrates in a 2:1 ratio to protein after your workout in liquid form.
5. Perform each set to muscular failure.
6. Use a training journal and track your progress.
7. Drink at least 4-6 liters of water each day.
8. Vary your rep and set schemes more frequently than any other training variable.
9. Focus on exploding up on the concentric portion of your movement and taking 3-4 seconds for the eccentric portion of your program.
10. Aim to build at least 5-6 pounds of lean muscle mass each month. Anything more will be fat gain.
11. Eat at least 10-15 serving of fruits and vegetables each day.
12. Focus on compound movements for 80% of your workouts.
13. Alternate between dumbbells and barbells every 2 weeks.
14. Only change an exercise when you plateau on two workouts in a row.
15. Enter a fitness model or bodybuilding show or transformation contest to keep you motivated.
16. Follow a program for at least 12-16 weeks before trying your next one.
17. Pyramiding your sets to consistently increase your strength 5% each week.
18. Consume a variety of whole eggs, chicken, lean beef, fish and whole-milk throughout the day for high quality (bioavailable) muscle building protein.
19. Use a training partner for motivation and an extra push to experience faster muscular growth.
20. Never train hungry if you want to build muscle fast.
21. Concentrate your carbohydrates when your body needs them most – breakfast, pre workout and post workout.
22. Ensure you do the squat and the deadlift each week to increase the release of growth hormone and testosterone.
23. Hire a personal trainer if you have never received professional coaching on technique and form.
24. Stretch at least half the amount of time that you lift. If you lift 3 hours a week, schedule at least 1.5 hours of yoga or static stretching.
25. Train a muscle group through it’s entire range of motion to stimulate muscle size.
26. Use a 3-day a week 20-minute interval cardio plan, post-workout, to maximize the muscle to fat ration while bulking.
27. Train your most underdeveloped muscle group first in each workout.
28. Avoid processed food, packaged food and fast food.
29. Avoid protein bars and any muscle building supplement that has sucrulose, aspartame, or other artificial or natural sweeteners.
30. Get at least 8-hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.
31. Don’t be afraid to overload your muscles with maximal resistance and miss your goal reps.
32. Consume a combination of olive oil, fish oil, coconut oil, mixed nuts and natural peanut butter each day to make sure you get ample healthy fats for testosterone and other muscle building hormone production.
33. Take a complete week off after 12-16 weeks of training.
34. Get a spotter to help you with your heaviest set.
35. Have a training program. Never go to the gym without a plan.
36. Perform 5-10 minutes of dynamic stretching before each weight training workout.
37. Schedule regular ART-therapy or massage therapy to avoid injuries.
38. Cold shower after every intense weight training workout. It sucks, but it works.
39. Eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass.
40. The core of your workout should revolve around squats, deadlifts, rows, presses, pull ups, dips and weighted core work.
41. Train with someone bigger and stronger than you. You'll be challenged and motivated to work out harder.
