There is a lot of attention paid in the Atkins diet plan towards food and cooking. Its true that your food choices on the diet are of utmost importance. But a lot of people make the mistake of ignoring exercise. The newly released Atkins food pyramid shows the importance of exercise. It shows an increase in food options with increased activity. Exercise is important on the Atkins diet, and important for everyones overall health.

Exercise is beneficial to body, mind and soul. It has many major benefits, even at limited levels. It not only burns fat but it boosts your metabolism and increases circulation. Daily exercise helps your body eliminate toxins through sweat glands and lymph systems. It is especially important to all low-carb weight loss programs because it regulates blood sugar levels.

Physical exercise is essential for Atkins diet success. Without exercise, your body isnt configured to process carbohydrates successfully. Research has shown that sedentary individuals have extreme insulin reactions to even moderate amounts of carbohydrates. This means that exercise doesnt only help you lose weight, it will help you keep it off too. Exercise will teach your body how to process the carbohydrates in your diet. When you exercise regularly, youll be able to eat more carbohydrates over time because your body will use them efficiently.

There are two basic types of exercise: aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise. The best regimen combines these two forms each week.

Aerobic exercises primary goal is to increase your heart rate. This causes your body to consume more oxygen and it gives all of your cells a fresh supply of oxygen. If youve been without physical activity for a while, many of those cells have been deprived. Aerobic exercise will regenerate them and help you feel better in times when you arent exercising.

If youve been inactive for a while, it may take some time to get used to your new aerobic workouts. You may want to get some advice from your primary care doctor or a professional aerobics instructor. Make sure to start slowly to give yourself time to adjust to your new movements. Its essential that you learn how to stretch and warm up correctly in order to avoid muscle strain. Some good beginning aerobic activities include walking, golf, tennis and dancing. These activities wont cause a lot of strain on your body, but they will get your heart moving. Start slowly and set small goals for yourself. For example, if you are starting a walking program begin by walking four blocks. Then increase your training to five blocks, then six. Your body will respond well to the exerciseafter all your body was meant to move!

Anaerobic exercise includes any activity that isnt technically aerobic. Most of the exercises in this category build muscle mass. Weightlifting and strength training are examples of anaerobic exercises. Working out with weights is an important part of losing weight. As you lose fat, youll need to replace it with muscle in order to stay lean. Dont be afraid of working out with weights. You wont need to become a bodybuilder. Weight bearing exercises like isometrics and resistance training will help improve your bone density, your posture and your fat burning potential.

If an exercise program is not part of your weight loss efforts, you are setting yourself up for failure. Make a commitment to incorporating exercise into your weight loss efforts and youll see the results immediately.

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Are you fed up with continuously seeing no measurable or long-lasting results whenever you try to lose weight? Or maybe you are sick and tired of throwing your money away on the latest fad diets, only to be let down again. Stop! That’s right, stop whatever you’re doing, you are going to want to hear this. Don’t even think about trying another diet plan or weight loss program until you read the following article. Why? Because the four tips will put you on the fast to lose weight safely and keep it off.

Each of the tips are based on science. That means they have always been around and are not fads. It’s just that a lot of people selling the latest weight loss programs don’t always like to share them, so it’s not your fault if you haven’t been able to effectively lose weight.

1. The Magic of Muscle – In short, the more lean muscle you have as you are trying to lose weight, the better. The amount of calories you are able to burn off is related, in part, to how much muscle mass you have. On top of that, more muscle allows you to exercise more effectively, and have more endurance. The fact that muscle is more attractive than fat doesn’t hurt either.

One of the best ways to build muscle mass is through strength training. You can still engage in aerobic exercise, and should, but nothing beats lifting weights and resistance training to add muscle to your body. This is important because muscle also requires more calories to stay fed, which is good, and brings us to the next point…

2. Stoke the Furnace – What we are talking about here is metabolism; that is the rate at which your body burns calories. As we have already seen, muscle tissue is excellent for burning calories and boosting your metabolism. However, there is something else you can do to keep your metabolism whirring along.

Eating smaller meals throughout the day, as opposed to three larger meals, will keep your body working at burning calories. It also has the added benefit of keeping your hunger from getting out of control.

3. Fast Feet – We’ll keep this tip short and sweet. A great way to lose weight is to take brisk walks on a regular basis. It’s not only easy enough to do, but it will also help you to lose weight safely and keep it off.

4. Cut Calories – This may be the biggest “secret” that fad diets try to conceal, but it gets right to the heart of the matter. The only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you take in. So far we have looked at burning calories, but now it’s time to switch to reducing how many you take in. The good news is that you don’t have to religiously count every calorie that goes into your mouth. All you have to do is make better food choices, and make a conscious effort to eat reasonable portions.

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How Do You Lose Belly Fat – Right Approach To A Flatter Stomach

Losing weight is one thing, but there is a more specific question that a lot of people have: How do you lose belly fat? all different kinds of secrets, hints, tips and techniques have been put forth; some by qualified medical professionals, and others by people who don’t have any real understanding of the issue. In other words, it can be difficult to learn what the truth is about losing belly fat. Not to worry, we will take a look at what’s true, and get you well on your way to a flatter tummy.

Let’s face it, a flat, firm stomach is consider as a sure sign of sex appeal. However, medical research has also shown that getting rid of abdominal fat is a strong indication of a longer, healthier life. See, even though you are probably well aware that carrying too much fat on your body isn’t good for you, where you carry it has an effect on your health. Those who have the most fat in their abdomen have increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and other conditions than those who have extra fat in their thighs, hips and buttock.

It’s not going to shock anybody to hear that the best way to lose belly fat is through eating right and regular exercise. Plus, there is an ever-increasing amount of data pointing out that the fastest way to get rid of the fat around your tummy is by combining aerobic exercise and weight training.

One particular study kept tracked of thirty overweight women for a period of six months. Each was assigned to one of the three following groups: aerobic exercise, combined exercise, or the control group. The first group did a sixty minute cardio workout for six days per week. The second group did cardio exercises three days a week and weight training three days a week (alternating days for each). The control group made no changes.

After the six month study period was over, the researchers had their results. The women in the aerobic exercise only group had lost 23 cm of subcutaneous fat in their abdomens; not bad. But the group that combined cardio and weight workouts lost close to 62 cm, nearly triple the amount of the aerobic only group! When it came to measuring visceral fat in the abdomen, there was a marked improvement as well. Where the aerobic group lost 82 cm, the combined lost 93 cm. As expected, the control group showed no statistical change.

What does this research mean for those that want to get rid of their belly fat? It means they need to get moving. But exercising harder is only part of the bigger picture. You also need to exercise smarter. In this case, that means alternating days of aerobic workouts with days where you focus on weight training. But the real key isn’t just the exercise, it’s burning more calories than you take in.

To lower your total amount of body fat, and thereby a flabby tummy, you need to right, too. The main thing you have to be able to do is maintain your muscle mass, this requires protein. Then 20% to 30% should come from predominantly healthy fats. Finally, the rest of your diet can be rounded out with carbohydrates. Again, remembering to eat fewer calories than you’re able to burn.

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You’ve been dieting. You’ve been doing your cardio workouts. You’ve been good, but for some reason, you’re still not happy with the way you look. You’re at or near your target weight, but you still dont look like that picture of that guy on the wall at the gym.

Now you need to start your ultimate weight training exercises. The exercises that use weights, which target specific muscle groups, toning and building the muscle you have.

Be aware, however, this is not targeting specific fat spots on your body. Spot reduction doesn’t work. Dieting and aerobic exercise should have already reduced the amount of fat in your body. The goal here is to tone the muscles that are there. Here are some trouble areas you can target and the way to do it; safely and easily.

* Arms: Stand up straight with your feet about shoulder width apart. Grab something that weighs bout five pounds (a bag of flour in a shopping bag works well). Start with your arms above your head, weight (or bag of flour) behind your head and slowly lift up until your arms are straight up and down. This works your triceps and helps to get rid of that ‘granny flab’ between your elbow and shoulder.

* Butt and legs: Again, start with your feet slightly more than shoulder width apart. Keep your back straight and bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Hold this position for a few seconds if you can and rise back up slowly.

This exercise works and tightens your butt and hamstring muscles (the muscles running down the back of your legs to your knees). If you continue the squat all the way down to the ground, you can target your quadriceps (the front of your thighs).

* Love handles: Now you’ve heard of crunches, sit ups, and a hundred other exercises for abdominal muscles. You’ve probably also heard that they are useless. They are; at least for losing weight.

The most effective exercise you can do for toning your abs is total body resistance training. Included in this is walking or running up hills, or some kinds of machines at a health club or gym.

The key to toning muscles is not heavy weights, but rather lower weight with a higher number of repetitions. It will do you more good to lift five or ten pounds 25 times than if you lifted 250 pounds once.

There are even programs out there that show you how to lift weights quickly to raise your heart rate and get some fat reduction as well as muscle toning. It is not easy, no matter what anyone tells you. Losing weight and shaping your body is possible, but you really need to be committed to a goal. Don’t give up! You CAN make it!

This article is for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice and should not be used or interpreted as such. You should always consult a medical professional before making drastic changes to your diet and physical exercise.

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