Body Beautiful
I would love to tell you it's easy, but that wouldn't be necessarily true. Nothing of worth comes without effort. However, it is well worth the effort to build a well conditioned and healthy you.
- The first step is to determine your desire. Figure out exactly what you want. How do you want your body to look? Do you want to lose weight? Gain weight? Are you trying to obtain a particular shape? You have to envision a clear and specific desire. Abstract ideas will get you abstract results.
- Once you realize exactly what you desire, the next step is research. You have to do your homework. Learn how the body works, in general as well as specifically your own body. Little Suzy may live off of junk food and appear not to gain any weight, but if you even look at a twinkie for too long, you go from having a J-Lo to looking like a potato. What works for someone else may not work for you. Familiarize yourself with the dynamics of your own body. Learn to listen to your body.
Whether your aim is to pack on muscle or slim down and tone-up, the essence of any training regimen is to shed excess body fat. Obtain an understanding of the body's metabolism and how the substances you consume effects your body. There's more to reducing body fat than just cutting food intake. What you eat, when you eat and how you eat all play a major part. Additionally, the body adapts to reduced calorie intake. So starving yourself isn't the answer.
With an understanding of the body's metabolic process an how the food you eat effect the body, you can take advantage of the body's natural cycles in order to work towards building the body you want.
- Armed with information, the next step is to strategize and develop a master plan. Identify how you intend to achieve your desired results. Outline the routine you will follow,(whether by dieting, exercise, etc.) step by step. This plan shouldn't be rigid at all. It must be fluid, adapting according to your body's responses to training.
- The final step of course is execution and dedication to purpose. You may encounter bumps along the way, it is to be expected. Do not allow it to discourage you. It is a part of the learning process. Hold fast to your desire. Use it to motivate you to see things through.
The body is the instrument of the Mind. Even though genetics may play a part in body type and some health conditions, overall the condition and development of the body is in our control. Envision/determine your desire, do your research, develop a plan, and execute with purpose and precision. That's the blue-print to achieving whatever you desire. Until next time ---
Keep it Body Beautiful!
Take advantage of the body’s natural cycles
Sleep/ rest: During sleep your body starts to break down body fat to get the glycogen it needs for conversion into energy to facilitate bodily functions. You can take advantage of this catabolic state in a number of ways:
- Doing cardio / exercising immediately or within an hour after waking up. It will increase your body’s metabolic rate and prolong the fat- burning process initiated during sleep.
- Drinking coffee in the morning or upon waking. Recent research shows that coffee is a benign stimulant that can help burn body fat, curb appetite and increase energy production. It does so with almost no calories’ when taken black. It is also high in antioxidants.
- Drink tea (especially Green tea) at least an hour before going to bed at night. Tea has similar fat burning capabilities as coffee minus the stimulant effect. It is also a source of antioxidants. The purpose of drinking tea before resting is to jump-start the body’s catabolic state.
If gaining weight ( muscle mass) is your goal:
Taking advantage of how the body operates during periods of rest is one way of using the natural cycles of the body to your benefit.
How the food you consume effect your body
Carbohydrates, protein and fat provide the body with the essential energy it needs. Each effect the body’s efficiency at storing body fat differently. Refined carbohydrates such as white bread, fruit juice, white rice and cold cereals digest rapidly, could help make you fatter than slow-digesting fibers based carbs such as beans, oatmeal, peas and whole grains do. Fast-digesting carbs are converted rapidly into glucose, the basic energy source of the body. If the energy is not utilized it is stored as body fat. On the other hand, slow digesting carbs converts more slowly to glucose, providing the body with a slow release of energy readily used as fuel. It also stay in your system longer warding off hunger, allowing you to eat less.
Protein is less fatting because it increases your metabolism more that consuming carbs and fat does. What about fat? For active people (sorry channel surfing is not an activity) excess amounts will likely be deposited as body fat easier than both carbohydrates and protein, because active people typically store extra protein as muscle tissue and mildly excessive carbs as muscle glycogen.
In general stick to low-fat, high protein foods and fibrous carbs. I wouldn’t recommend a no -fat diet because fat is an essential part of a diet.. Avoid saturated fat., however unsaturated fats, especially monounsaturates and polyunsaturated are good for you. The main thing is be conscious of the food you eat and how it effects your body. Til next time remember...
Body Beautiful!
LIVING RIGHT
Its been said exercise is mental. Some say 90%, 80%, 70% mental. I feel its 100% mental and it begins before you even pickup a weight, jump on a bike or lace up your running shoes.. It begins with identifying an objective.
I cringe when I here people say they want to or are trying to lose weight. Weight loss can mean anything from losing muscle mass, body fay or both. Losing muscle mass may or may not be healthy depending on the situation. Reaching a particular weight may not equate with being healthy either, because you can have a slim build and still be technically "fat"if you have a high body fat percentage. Flab is flab whether it’s on a slim frame or a big frame.
A goal should always encompass the heart of the matter. A issue isn’t your weight. Your weight is a result of your lifestyle. Therefore, any goal you set should be directed at changing your lifestyle. Living right should be your focus. Shedding body fat , toning up, reduced stress, etc, are the benefits of Living right.
What is Living right and Living right according to what or who? Living right means living proper and in accord with reason; not leading a destructive lifestyle. The very purpose of eating is to provide your body the energy it needs to accomplish activities. Somehow we lost our way and got into the habit of eating for taste instead of eating to sustain Life. We also have developed the habit of eating three meals a day ( that figure doesn’t include the snacking done in between these periods) which is unnecessary if you are not highly active. Just ask yourself, why is it that 65% of adults and 16 of children are obese or overweight?
There is nothing wrong with eating food that taste good; nobody want to eat something that taste nasty. However, if a food lacks nutritional value you shouldn’t eat it just because it taste good. Arsenic taste like almonds but you don’t see people filling themselves on that, so why poison body with other substances. It is okay to treat yourself to food or dessert you like that aren’t the most nutritional. However, such "treats" should be in moderation and fall on your exercise days. In that way the extra calories you consume will be less likely to be stored as body fat.
How many times a day a persons eats and when, should be on the particular lifestyle of the person. A person that is highly active meaning that exercises, play sports, who’s profession is physically strenuous and such physical activities, would need to consume more calories daily than a person whois not as physically active. TO use myself as an example: On days that I’m not training I consume anywhere from 1200 1500 calories. On my training days I take in two to three times that amount depending on what time I train.
Physical activity is an important factor in leading a healthy lifestyle. It promotes a healthy, viable metabolism that can fight disease, slow aging and prevent your body from accumulating large amounts of body fat. Some form of exercise: calisthenics, weight training, aerobics, cardiovascular, etc; should be a regular part of your weekly routine. There isn’t a such thing as not having the time. Make the best of whatever time you have available. Something is better that nothing.
This article in no way covers everything that entails Living right. It is merely my attempt to show the importance of developing the right mental attitude by identifying the true issue. Many people rarely stick to dieting or exercising because they view it as an onerous task instead of as a necessary way of life. Life always follows a simple mathematical logic, eating right+ living right= looking right and feeling right. Keep it Body Beautiful!!
posted by Boog$ at 7:17 PM
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