Lateral Squats

Video: This exercise will build stability and strength in your hamstrings, quads and glutes.

8 Most Popular Diets Today

People are obsessed with diets. They are constantly seeking the right diet to help them lose weight. There are currently eight popular diets that have worked effectively for many people and providing more options for dieting.

1. Atkins Diet focuses on controlling the levels of insulin in the body through the food consumed. It is based on the consumption of proteins in the diet to reduce the levels of insulin in the bloodstream. The increasing of the proteins leads to weight loss in many people.

2. Zone Diet creates a nutritional balance with 40carbohydrates, 30fats, and 30protein. The focus is to control the insulin levels that will result in weight loss. The diet consists of unrefined carbohydrates and fats including nuts, olive oil, and avocado.

3. Vegetarian diet concentrates on eating non-animal based foods except for eggs, honey, and dairy products. Vegetarians have a lower body weight; suffer from less diseases, and longer life spans, according to current studies. Since the meat products have been removed from the diet, vegetarians consume less fat according to the studies.

4. Your Vegan diet is more a philosophy and way of life since the diet does not include any animal-based products including eggs, honey, dairy, and meat products. The concept of the diet is based more on environmental and ethical reasons versus health related issues.

5. Weight Watchers Diet focuses on weight loss, exercise, and a support network or group. Dieters have the ability of meeting in person with the groups or using online services for support. The diet reduces the types of foods consumed while increasing the levels of exercise.

6. South Beach diet focuses on the levels of insulin and refined carbohydrates in the diet. The foods consumed are low in fat as a method of controlling the insulin, which leads to weight loss and better health.

7. Raw Food Diet involves eating foods and drinks that are not processed but are only in their original form and organic. There are four types of raw foodists, raw vegetarians, raw vegans, raw omnivores, and raw carnivores. The belief of consuming the food in the raw form is the food does not have additives or extras that will cause health related issues including weight gain.

8. Mediterranean Diet is a diet from Southern Europe that focuses on the eating habits of citizens of Crete, Greece, and southern Italy. The concentration is on a lot of plant foods, fresh fruits as dessert, beans, nuts, cereals, seeds, olive oil for the main source of dietary fats, cheese and yogurts for the main dairy foods, moderate levels of fish, consuming less than four eggs a week, limited amounts of the red meat, and limited amounts of wine. The Mediterranean Diet consists of fat with the saturated fat less than 8of the caloric intake.

There are benefits of each type of diet. Depending on the personal life style, there is a diet available for everyone.

Calorie Intake Counter A Digital Food Journal

A calorie intake counter is a digital food journal. The advantages of a calorie intake counter over a pen and paper journal is that the amount of calories in each food are already programmed into the counter. This means that you get a running total of the amount of calories you have consumed throughout the day.

One of the biggest problems that dieters have is that they have no idea of the actual calories they are consuming. For one thing, they underestimate the actual portions they are eating. They also underestimate the calories in each portion. Many foods that are supposedly “good” for us are very high in calories. For instance, a one cup serving of orange juice has 122 calories. Many dieters try to stick to a 1200 calorie diet. So, that glass of orange juice, which is supposedly part of a “balanced” breakfast, takes up 1/10th of the calories for the day! A calorie intake counter will help you avoid pitfalls like this one.

It will also provide a running total of the amount of calories you have had. So, if you have an extra cookie at lunch, you will know that you have to make up for it by exercising more or eating less at dinner.

As the calorie intake counter works like a journal, you will be able to identify your “trouble spots” after using it for just a week. For instance, you may find that the lunch options you have at work force you into eating more calories than you would “budget” for that meal. Therefore, you might make the choice to pack your own lunch so that you can have your calories spread out through the day in a way that you would prefer.

You will also be able to track how many calories you are burning with a calorie intake counter. Again, you may be surprised by some of the results. For instance, running a mile can burn off 78 calories if you are a 120 pound woman and 117 calories if you are a 180 pound man. Knowing exactly how many calories you are burning rather than just estimating is a good way to stay on track as far as losing weight.

Another thing that might surprise you is that you can burn calories by doing things you wouldn’t consider exercise. For instance, playing with your children, playing the piano, and gardening all burn calories.

A calorie intake counter is a sophisticated journal to help you keep track of your weight loss journey. You can buy them as stand alone devises or buy add ons to your iPhone, PDA, or other electronic equipment. In this day and age when we keep track of everything electronically, a calorie intake counter is just one more tool in the battle of the bulge.

Obesity And Heart Failure

In the past doctors thought, overweight patients had increased risks of developing heart failure due to complications from diabetes, coronary heart disease, and high blood pressure yet new studies show that obesity leads to heart failure without the other medical conditions present. The studies also show that even excess body weight tremendously increases the risks even when the person is not considered obese.

One study was based on 5881 people who volunteered for the case study at the institution. The people were either obese or overweight during the 14-year study. Those people that were considered overweight had a risk of developing heart failure 34greater than the non-overweight individuals. The ones considered obese had a risk factor of 104

The fact that obese individuals, had a higher risk rate, caused alarm for the doctors in the medical field, since this new study brought to light; a new medical condition previously never known. The fact proven by the study showed even healthy people are still at risk for heart disease by decreased amounts. Overweight and obese people, based on the results, began to be counselled to lose weight to lower the risk of possible heart failure.

Obesity leads to heart failure because the problems associated with obesity such as left ventricular hypertrophy known as LVH, which is the thickening of the walls of the left regions of the heart. Over time, LVH can lead to heart failure.

Obesity is associated with metabolic syndrome X that is a metabolic disorder causing the lipid abnormalities. Both LVH and metabolic syndrome lead to heart failure in obese and overweight individuals.

The treatments designed at improving the LVH and metabolic syndrome X can help with stopping heart failure. The theory has been tested in clinical studies, while it is still highly recommended individuals lose the excess weight to lower their risks of the medical conditions. Using a healthy low caloric diet and exercise, many individuals lower their risks as well as reducing the risks of hypertension, lipid abnormalities, metabolic syndrome X, and other heart diseases; they were previously considered at high risk to get.

Doctors used the studies to counsel patients on the importance of weight loss and weight management citing the study results as proof the patient was at high risk. Many patients, required the study as proof they were at risk, since in the past many had been informed differently.

The fact remains that obesity raises the risk levels for heart disease. Heart disease is an extremely serious condition, which must be recognized and taken seriously by both the doctor and the patient; so proper treatments can be used to lower the risks and prolong the life of the patients.

Push up

Video: Push ups primarily target the chest, arm, and shoulder muscles.

Blue Cheese Baguette Spread, Perfect for a Party

Ingredients

8 ounces fat free cream cheese, softened

2 ounces Bleu cheese, crumbled

2 tablespoons walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

pinch of salt

Directions

Mix all of the ingredients together and chill. Spread on thin slices of baguette or party rye bread.

Go Nutty Shake

Ingredients

1/3 cup cottage cheese

1 scoop vanilla whey protein

2 tbsp flax seeds

1/2 ounce almonds

1/2 ounce walnuts

1 1/2 cup ice

1/4 cup water

Preparation

Combine all ingredients except water and blend on high for 2 minutes. Next, add water and blend on high for 1 minute.

Hold a lunge

Video: A fitness professional shows how to hold a lunge, a great way to increase muscle tone.

Fruit Salad

Ingredients

6 Bananas (sliced)

2 pint strawberries (sliced in half)

4 Kiwis (peeled and sliced)

1 apple (sliced without core)*

Preparation

After fruit is washed thoroughly and sliced add to a large bowl. Mix by hand and for an even better twist sprinkle some lemon juice on it. Chill and serve!

Sesame Carrots

Ingredients

2 cups baby carrots

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Pinch of dried thyme

Pinch of kosher salt

Directions

Toss carrots with sesame seeds, thyme and kosher salt in a small bowl.

(Makes 3 Servings)