Ask most people what their New Year’s Resolutions were and you’ll likely find the answer- lose weight. With so many of us wanting to shed the pounds, why is the obesity pandemic reaching new heights?

Weight loss tends to conjure up images of near starvation and tons of cardio. Most of us do not even start on our New Year’s Resolution simply because the thought of it stops us dead in our tracks.

What if we had some tools for weight loss? 4 simple ideas that are practically guaranteed to shed fat, drop the weight, and slim us down? That would be a major first step towards a weight loss program.

Tool 1- Strength Training

We have to recognize this as a viable fat-loss method. Every pound of muscle burns 35-50 calories per day. Adding lean muscle mass is the best way to jump start and sustain fat reduction.

Tool 2- Cardio

Cardio is good, but it’s not the only tool we should use. Cardio should be done as a partner to the other ideas. Anything that gets your heart pumping will do: walking, jogging, running, dancing, swimming, biking, or house cleaning.

Tool 3- Nutrition

Nutrition is often the hardest part of the weight loss process. We simply forgot how to eat well in our culture. We need to eat protein, carbs, and fat to sustain our way of life. Cut one of the three out and imbalances will occur.

Tool 4- Rest

Rest is not a luxury. It is a necessity. We should eat well every day and we should workout 5-6 times per week. The leftover 1-2 days are meant for rest. Our muscles need time to rebuild and repair themselves.

Using strength training, cardio, nutrition and rest to our advantage will result in fat loss. There is no magic bullet. Just simple and effective tools to create the body we want. Make a promise to yourself right now. Try using the above tools consistently and to the best of your ability for 4 weeks. You’ll look great and feel amazing.

Copyright 2005 http://www.strength-training-woman.com

Lynn VanDyke is the proud owner of http://www.strength-training-woman.com. She is a personal fitness professional, yoga instructor and nutritionist. Her site is quickly becoming the authority for all things strength training.

Here are a few interesting facts:

Today, we have made nutrition a science; we think that our experts know the secrets to healthy eating.

A much wider variety of healthy foods are available to us today than ever before.

However, in modern society, more of us have weight problems and become ill or even die from conditions related to being overweight than ever before!

Maybe it’s just possible that we have something to learn from the way that people ate in the past – throughout much of human history, in fact. One thing goes without saying, and is probably the most important factor – in the past, food was more natural. While it may be true that people ate more fat and even more calories, they acquired them from food that was close to its natural state, and therefore better for health.

But here’s something else – something that may surprise you. People in most ancient societies – and right through the Middle Ages and Renaissance – did not follow the advice that most nutritionists would give today. They hardly ate any breakfast at all, though we are often told that breakfast is the ‘most important meal’. In fact, they were likely to eat only one large meal a day – or two at the most, in which case one would be larger than the other. And here’s another thing that would make modern nutritionists shake their heads in despair – quite a lot of the time, it seems, that one big meal was eaten rather late in the day – often after the sun went down and the day’s work was done!

This is, of course, the direct opposite of what we hear nowadays. We are told never to skip breakfast, and that numerous smaller meals are better than fewer large ones. According to traditional societies, though, that’s just not true. People in ancient Greece and Rome would eat very little in the morning – a small piece of bread, maybe, or a fig or two. They would work throughout the day, eating little or nothing. Then, when work was done for the day, they would sit down to a great meal. What it consisted of would vary according to how well-off the people were, and the precise region they lived in – but for everyone, the evening meal would be comprised of most of their daily calories. They would go to bed on a full stomach, digest during the night, and be energized – and have little need to eat – next morning.

As time went on, some farming cultures varied this basic plan somewhat, and had their main meal in the middle of the day. They would then have a light supper – rather like our lunch – late in the evening. In fact, there are people in some European cultures today who eat exactly like this to this day.

Today, breakfast is sacrosanct, but it actually was not even invented until the seventeenth century. At that time, the idea of breakfast was popularized by the British royal family – and their ‘breakfast’ consisted of several courses, including meat, salads, and even dessert. In fact, the royals and aristocrats were the ‘deviants’ all along. They didn’t eat like most people did – they increased the amount and frequency of their meals, and ended up with much of the health and weight problems that we have today!

By contrast, the peasants’ meals seemed to be, for the most part, just right – as long as there wasn’t a drought or famine in the area, that is. Of course, part of it might have been the simple food and hard labor, but evidence suggests that people in bygone times had very few weight problems, despite (or maybe because of?) their tendency to eat most of their calories at one meal, which was often an evening meal, at that! Should we follow their lead? It goes against conventional wisdom, but it seems worth thinking about. If nothing else, we should appreciate the fact that this type of eating has been around a lot longer than modern diets and eating plans, and seems to have been successful, for the most part. So if you’re not a breakfast person, don’t despair – chances are you weren’t bred to be!

For more great information visit Gabae Weight Loss the premiere resource for weight loss, diets, nutrition and living a great healthy life style!

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Here’s the question of the day…

Are you getting better, or are you getting worse?

I’m talking about health and fitness terms, here… although this question can (and should) be asked in all facets of your life.

Are you doing the things that will lead you to lifelong success, or are you not taking action, not taking charge of your own life, not doing the right things?

For your sake, let’s hope you gave a “yes” to the first question.

Do you have a specific goal?

Are you getting there?

Are you truly focusing on getting in shape and having better self-esteem?

Or are you sitting and sulking and complaining, “how hard this is” blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Because that will lead you to a bunch of nothing in a land of nowhere.

The title in this article is ALWAYS the name of the game, folks.

No matter if you’re talking about health/fitness, your life, your relationships, your skills

You’re either getting better or worse.

If you don’t exercise, if you start to slack on eating right, if you stray away from your fresh fruits and vegetables.

Your getting worse.

For some reason, you enjoy making it harder on yourself, lol.

Why not make it easy?

And start off by doing the right thing..

And not straying from it?

(Gasp!!!!), that makes WAAAY too much sense, lol.

Here are some ways to make losing weight easier for you:

1. Make small goals, and FOCUS on achieving those first.

2. Come up with a fitness program, no matter how small.

3. Decrease hydrogenated fats and refined sugars from your diet.

4. Increase intake of fresh fruits and vegetables.

5. To increase you fresh fruit and vegetable intake, invest in a juicer (they are sold everywhere, and it tastes much better than you think).

6. Be CONSISTENT (Possibly the most important tip I, or anyone else will ever give you).

7. Believe that you can do this (or anything else you want to do, for that matter).

If you do these, and by no means is this even close to everything you can do..you will become immensely successful, I guarantee it.

Face it, if you are overweight, out of shape, have trouble moving around, etc.

Whatever you are doing is NOT WORKING!

So change it!!!

A simple concept, yet usually so very hard for most people to do.

Like my Dad used to always say to me, “If whatever you’re doing is not working, CHANGE what you’re doing.”

Truer words cannot be spoken.

So what does this have to do with getting better or worse?

Everything.

Because if you are still overweight, lazy, and don’t exercise..you’re sure as heck not getting any better..

And you’re only making it harder and harder on yourself to get in shape.

Everyday you put off my steps to getting healthy, is just that much harder you are going to have to work to get in the shape that you dream of.

Fortunately, I am here to help you to get started and slash those pounds off you in a New York minute.

Ok, maybe it will take a little longer than that.

But not much.

So why not make it easier for yourself, and start today?

Great idea, let’s go.

I’ll talk to you soon.

Chris Callegari, founder of http://www.fitnesswithchris.com
is unleashing his real-world exercise, fitness, nutrition, and healthy eating tips to the world, to help support lifestyle changes for any and everyone.

[tags]getting in shape and having better self esteem, steps to getting healthy[/tags]