Monday, September 24, 2012

Fat Burning Foods - Part 2

fat burning foodsContinued from where we left off a few days ago, another great source of fat burning food is that of the pomegranate. It has a high level of Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), polyphenols and antioxidant.  CLA is said to help in the firming process of our tummy as it causes the lowering of body fat and increase in lean muscles. Polyphenols helps our body to burn fat via inducing the thermogenesis process, where the body burns fat to maintain its core temperature. The high antioxidant property of pomegranate reduces the amount of free radicals cortisol in our body.  Cortisol will encourage lean muscle break down to produce energy for the body while promoting fat storage in our mid section.  Eating more pomegranates will stop these bad cortisol from spoiling our fat burning and muscle building regime.

Lentils provide a great source of minerals for our body, which is essentials in the fat burning process and also it has a filling property which helps us feel full and thus won't overeat and get obese in the process.  Lentils also are rich in plant proteins and low in carbohydrates which show us why they are an idea food if we are to keep our body fat composition low.  Its high fiber content helps to reduce our body cholesterol as well.

Foods that are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids like fish are a good source of fat burning food. So how does it work here?  Well, Omega 3 is said to help increase the permeability of the cell membrane and this can help increase protein synthesis improving our glycogen storage capacity as a result.  This in turn helps to regulate more Leptin production in our body as our insulin levels are more balance.  The more Leptin in our body, the less easy we will feel hungry. Leptin is a hormone produced by our body fat.  Which means the more Leptin is produced the more body fats are used and the less easy we will feel hungry.  Less insulin level in our body means less fat will be stored into our tummy.  Omega 3 can also improve the fat burning process in mitochondria, our fat burning furnace in our body.  It is like adding oil to a burning fire which helps it burn even more efficiently our stored fat. 

Finally, the all important source of life, where everything is originated from and that is water.  Without water we all will not be able to survive anyway.  Water is the source of minerals which helps to regulate our body’s metabolism.  With a well metabolic rate, our body will burn fat more easily, keeping our body fat at an optimum level at all time.  It is important to know that all our cell activities in our body, including the fat burning process, requires water in order to be able to carry out in an efficient manner.  That is why we need to drink at least 8 glasses of water everyday so that our body can perform at the healthiest level for our own benefit.


Friday, September 21, 2012

Fat Burning Foods - Part 1

Have you ever encountered with the term "fat burning Foods"?  Well most people would know that our body fat can be burnt by doing exercises, but foods that can burn off fats in our body?  Not many would have known about this I think.  Actually, fat burning foods are foods that help you burn off or speed up the burning of excess fat in your body.  The concept is very simple, when we digest food in our body, we need some energy to do this.  The harder the food is to digest, the more energy it is required from our body to do so.  Thus foods that are harder to digest makes our body work harder and as a result more fats are burnt off to provide the required energy for the digestion. 

Vitamins and minerals in foods act as agent to increase our body’s metabolism which in turn will create an ideal environment for more fat to be burnt as more energy is required when our body is on a high metabolic state. Fruits are the best source of vitamins and minerals provider.  Which is why it is wise to include plenty of fruits in your daily diet so that the minerals and vitamins can help to increase your body metabolism and burnt off the excess fat in your body?  Furthermore, fruits are high in fiber and low in calories and these will not adds to your lipid storage in your body.  It will only benefits us by lowering our cholesterol level and helps to clean up our blood system as well.

Oats are not only fat free and zero in calorie, it has the all important, insoluble fiber which helps us feel full and will not have the hungry feeling of wanting to devour more food than we need.  This is very important in terms of not over eating and produce the excess calories that will eventually be stored as fat in or body.  Having oat meal as breakfast is probably the best off the dawn meal you would ever have as it is said to be the healthiest breakfast ever. You can slice a couple of banana and add some honey and raisins for taste. The vitamin C in the banana is also part of the ingredient for an efficient metabolism in our body.

The white and lean chicken breast is probably the best source of protein you can ever get.  It is low in fat and high in amino acid.  Digesting protein is very hard and requires a lot of energy from our body to do so.  Thus chicken meat is not only a good source of fat burning food, it is also a source of food that is hard to turn into fat storage in our body.  The red meat counterpart like beef and lamb will always contain a higher level of fat content in them which is why they taste much nicer than chicken as most people say.  But for my body fat sake, I will undoubtedly choose the white meat counterpart of chicken meat which can help me control my waistline.

I will continue will the rest of the fat burning food in my next post. So stay tune for a good health, fitness and life!
 

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

How Can You Get Six Pack Abs

How Can You Get Six Pack Abs  The question everybody is asking here is "how can I get six pack abs"?  This is true especially for men as it is much more difficult for men to get a six pack abs as compare to the women.  Most fat are stored around men's abdominal areas whereas it is deposited in women's bum predominantly.  That is why women are much easier to get a six pack than men.   The storage area of fat is God's designed and we can do nothing about that but what we can do is to burn off all those excess fats across our mid section area and do some abdominal exercises to get our all craving super hero six pack abs that we love to have.

Eat a healthy diet

  Before me go into the fat burning routine, there is a more crucial thing that we have to get use to so that we can achieve our six pack goal in a much easier manner.  The old saying of "we are what we eat" really has some truth in it.  If we dream of having a six pack abs while still insist on swallowing the oily cheese burgers, creamy chicken pie, succulent deep fried chicken wings, the ever popular double cheese pepperoni pizza and the saliva dripping BBQ pork chop topple with cream soda and ice float root beer, well I think we aren't getting anywhere near to that washboard abs that we so wanted to have.  What you need here is to cut down all the fatty foods and substitute them with a high fiber, low calories and lean meat diet. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits.  Consume white meat like fish and chicken instead of the more fatty red meat like beef and lamb.  Use the healthier olive oil in your daily cooking instead of butter.  Try steaming your food instead of frying them to cut down on the oil usage. Cut down on sugar intake, substitute white sugar with brown sugar.  Take the unprocessed brown rice rather than the clean white rice.  Eat whole-wheat or whole meal bread instead of the white ones.  Brown rice and whole meal breads contain more fibers which is good for your body.  Take high fiber snacks instead of the normal ones.  Do the same with biscuits and confectioneries to experience a healthier living. Drink water instead of beer, coke or syrups.   Our body needs at least 8 glasses of water each day so that the system within our body can function efficiently. Take smaller 5-6 meals instead of 3 nig meals a day.

Exercise Regime

  Next we are going to look into the exercise part that will going to get us a six pack abs.  We can start off by doing sit ups.  Do 20 reps of sit ups as warm up.  Then rest 30 seconds and continue to do 4 sets of 20 reps with a 30 seconds rest interval between each sets.  You can start off doing this 100 reps sit ups exercise on alternate days to build a solid mid section base. After 4 to 6 weeks you can do this sit up exercise on a daily basis.  Sit ups target the upper abdominal muscles predominantly so in order to get a more balance six pack abs, you need to incorporate leg raise to target the lower abdominal muscles. You can do this exercise by sitting on the edge of a couch with both hands planted firmly beside your hips, holding the couch.  Raise both your legs, bending them while you move them towards your chest.  The lower them back to the original position, without touching the floor and move back up and repeat the process.  Do 20 reps and rest 30 seconds as per the sit up exercise until 100 reps have been completed.  Next you need to exercise your side oblique muscles which are the muscles beside your six packs abs.  You can target these side abdominals by doing alternate bicycle kicks. Lie on the floor face up, bend your legs slightly with both your arms behind your head.  Raise your right elbow and left knee until the touch each other. Lower them down and do the same with the left elbow and right knee. Do 20 reps for each sides and rest 30 seconds then repeat until you completed 100 reps.

Abs Definition

  It is useless if you only train your abs muscles but you ignoring the layer of fats covering it.  You can tell people you've got six packs and they will tell you, yes six in one abs you got there!  What you need to do is to burn off the layer of fat covering your wash board abs.  The way to do it is to do cardio exercise to burn off that excess fat. Do 20-30 minutes of stationary bike each day to sweat off those irritating lipid cells that covering your six packs.  You can alternate the bike session day with jogging or aerobics classes if you wants some variety in your exercise.  The main thing is to get a 20-30 minutes of cardio exercise each day to melt that stubborn fat cells off your abdominals!  Be sure to drink a lot of water as you can get dehydrated with the amount of water loss through your excessive sweating.  Bear in mind that besides doing cardio exercise, you must be strict to follow the diet that I have suggested above.  If not all your hard work each day will go into the drain as no self discipline will only make the fatty cells come back to hibernate around your abdominal wall!  Whereas if you can get past yourself, discipline wise, then I am sure that elusive six pack abs will be yours to keep for sure and you will indeed enjoy a good health, fitness and life!