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March 9, 2010

Think About the Numbers for Losing Fat

It is a known fact that 3500 calories is a pound of body weight and to lose one pound, you must reduce your intake of calories by 3,500. Given that information, if you want to lose five pounds in one week, you must reduce your calories by 17,500!

We are all aware that an average diet is about 2000 calories per day. That’s only 14 thousand calories per week. That’s average! That’s what keeps you healthy. If you are going to diet off five pounds which is seventeen thousand five hundred calories, you have to burn 3500 more calories than you eat for the entire week, or go totally without food PLUS burn 3500 calories in one week. That just won’t work. You can’t lose five pounds in one week by dieting. You have to have some food to stay alive.

So if you eliminate food, you’re in for a rough ride. Your body has this involuntary reaction which we refer to as hibernation, in bears. As good a name as any in people, but we usually call it metabolism. When the food stops coming in, your metabolism picks up on it and starts burning protein, which is your lean muscle. It’s 75% water, and is your first line of weight loss. You lose your water. You ever see body builders with their protein drinks and protein bars and protein powder? Lots of muscle there, isn’t there? But the next thing that your metabolism does is worse. It starts to burn carbohydrates, which means that your fat increases. You start to put more weight on!

You have to control the burn rate, not the caloric intake. I mentioned body builders a minute ago. They eat like they will never have another meal. For all the food they take in, they should weight 400 pounds, but they don’t. They have learned to speed up their metabolism, so what they eat is going into muscle building, not fat storing.

One thing is for sure: Body Builders are mostly protein, and very little fat. They don’t eat a lot of Big Macs and Whoppers. They have a totally different diet with protein drinks and bars and shakes. They couple that with some simple exercises, and they control their metabolisms. If you like that sort of look, they are usually pretty hot, yet they eat like there won’t be food tomorrow. You have to control the burn rate, not the caloric intake.

Fact is, you can’t just diet and make fat go away, so you have to make a complete lifestyle choice. You want to lose weight? Start with a little exercise. Get your metabolism kicked up. Once that starts to take off a little weight, THEN you start your diet, and after that you increase your exercise. When you start AFTER you have increased your metabolism, the work will be more effective. The pounds will come off faster and more easily. The weight loss is a lifestyle change and more likely to stay off.

Understand that you put your weight on because you don’t burn everything that you eat. You store some of it, and over time, that weight builds up. Problem is, storage is driven by what you eat and that consumption is mostly about water. Protein is 75% water. When you go on a diet, after you clear out the water you burn protein from your storehouse.

You can’t just diet fat off because your body will give away all of it’s protein to protect itself, so you start to live on carbohydrates- and gain weight. When you lower your food intake, you lose protein, and this loss lowers your burn rate.

If thediet seems to be taking forever, remember that 3500 calories is one pound of fat. Here’s your chance, visit my website at the link, or see my blog. There’s lots of articles and the blog has some interesting opinions as well.

March 7, 2010

The Potential Of Antioxidants And Your Health

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Tammy D Sanders @ 4:40 am

Our bodies necessitate oxygen to exist yet the use of oxygen in our bodies causes oxidative impairment. When our bodies use oxygen, free radicals are created. A free radical is a molecule that is deficient one or more electrons. These molecules are extremely erratic and can cause a enormous amount of impairment. Antioxidants are a group of nutrients found in food that are recognized to check or slow the effects of oxidative harm in our bodies.

Antioxidants actually come in and donate the absent electron to the free radical thus stabilizing it and preventing extra damage. Antioxidants are abounding in many of the foods found in nature and including high antioxidant foods can help us to thwart many of the troubles of aging and prevent diseases such as heart and cardiovascular disease and cancers by enhancing our own immune system.

Berries contain some of the utmost antioxidant levels in the world. Blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, strawberries, grapes and cherries all have elevated antioxidant content. The Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity or ORAC is how food is measured for antioxidants. All berries rank high on the ORAC scale and the highest-ranking solid food on the ORAC scale is the acai berry. A couple of things such as ground cloves and ground cinnamon rank over the acai but as for concrete foods the acai berry surpasses all.

Fruits that have a elevated level of antioxidants incorporate the citrus variety, orange, grapefruit and lemons and many of the more tropical fruits such as kiwi, mango and papaya. Apples, pears and plums are also outstanding.

Many of the widespread vegetables are enormously elevated in antioxidants. Spinach, Kale, Swiss chard, dandelion greens and other greens are excellent, along with the cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.

Pumpkins are very superior in beta-carotene, which is a matter that converts to vitamin A in our bodies. Beta-carotene is a very crucial nutrient but it can be risky, especially for smokers, to take beta-carotene in supplement form. The top way to get this crucial nutrient is through the diet. Most orange foods, like pumpkin, carrots, sweet potatoes and squash provide an abundant total.

By consuming a colorful diet you will be sure to obtain an copious supply of antioxidants. Most of the vibrant and colorful foods found in nature are full in antioxidants. Berries are deep purple and red. Pumpkins and carrots are bright orange. Spinach and broccoli are deep green. Tomatoes and watermelon are red. Color is a big indication to antioxidant faculty.

Research continues on antioxidants but it is showing increasingly more advantages for our health. Superior immune function can avert disease like cancers and heart disease and also check common ailments connected with aging such as macular degeneration and Alzheimer’s disease.

Acai berries offer fundamental nutrition our bodies require to lose fat. For more information about acai berry wiki stop by my blog at http://acaiwow.com

March 6, 2010

Why You Should Train To Muscle Failure

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , — Mitch Graves @ 3:17 am

One of the best parts of the gym is the ability to grunt and make faces like a real brute and get away with it. This usually happens when you’re pushing through some pain and yelling at your muscles not to fail on you.

This article will show you why training to failure is important and how to do it properly.

Every person in the gym that’s worth their salt has pushed their muscles to the limit.

I reached failure yesterday on the incline bench with 85 lbs dumb bells. If I didn’t have a spotter, I would’ve been in serious trouble.

I knew I’d reached my limit on my chest so I moved on the next muscle, unlike most, that continue to pound away.

When you train to complete muscle failure, you’ve recruited (just about) every fiber in that muscle to do a particular movement and they’ve ALL failed. The lactic acid build up from your muscles oxidizing themselves has reached a critical limit and they can’t move anymore.

When you micro-tear most of the muscle, you’ve given yourself the maximum chance of recovery.

If you damage 60% of your muscle, that 60% will repair itself. But if you damage 98% of your muscle, you leave room for much greater repair. When more muscle repairs itself, you’ll see greater and faster growth. The time added to this growth is minimal compared to the extra gains you will see.

Make sure your tempo and technique remain constant. Be sure the failure is from your muscles and not your joints. Have a mind-over-matter attitude and push through the pain until you can’t perform the exercise any longer.

With that being said, it’s a good idea to have a spotter with you when you do this. Either your training partner, or someone else. This can be dangerous as I’ve pointed out above, but if you want to see greater growth, this is a great strategy.

Your spotter needs to be vigilant as to when you’re about to fail and you need to communicate your failure point with your spotter.

I would end with the cliche, No Pain, No Gain, but that’s not exactly true, lol. So I’ll just say, Train Hard and Train Smart.

Looking to find the best advice on how to build muscle, then visit www.fitwithmitch.com to find the best advice on muscle building for you.

December 26, 2008

Aquasana Filters Make Home Filtration Simple

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — @ 6:59 pm

Aquasana water filters make home filtration easy. This brand is make by Sun Water Systems located out of Texas and are American made. Their product line up includes countertop filters,under the sink filters, shower filters and whole house filters.  They have some of the strictest quality control of any  manufacturer. Most of these models are both Underwriters Laboratories approved, and a Consumer DIgest Magazine “Best Buy”. These filters are shipped around the world for worldwide usage.

Our latest choice is the Aqusana  AQ-4500 under counter water filter. These water filters retails for under $150.00 dollars and has a twin-cartridge system, with a beautiful chrome faucet that attaches easily to your sink, thereby providing a easy to use system. All one has to done after it is installed is press down the lever and great filtered water comes out. Filters last 6 monthes and cost under $50 dollars to replace. Installation took less that 30 minutes and came with complete instructions on how to install. At the store we purchased from, Better Water Store they even had an installation video however it wasn’t needed.

December 4, 2008

Replacing Bottled Water with Water Purifiers

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — @ 8:24 pm

As the United States and the world at large enter a recession, most families are looking for simple ways to save money without having to hurt their lifestyle.  It turns out that one such simple method is clear - literally. Thousands of families are spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars every year on water.  Bottled water is many times more expensive than water filtered from your tap, so this is an expense you can eliminate easily.  Best of all,  water purifiers are also more attractive than water bottles and actually produce safer water. How much do you think you spend on plastic bottled water each year?  It is almost always more than you think. In a recent pricing study, a US supermarket sold a popular brand of bottled water for $1.19 per twenty ounce bottle.  In many studies, the same bottle of water was typically sold for over $1.75 in vending machines.  90% of the expense of bottled water is in making the bottle itself - all of which are soon disposed of.

Luckily, the use of  water filters can get that money back for you to spend however you see fit.Water filters are a very affordable option.  Water itself is amazingly cheap.  Tap water costs only two-tenths of a penny per gallon.  Adding in a step of filtration only adds a small amount of cost, since the same water filter can be used for hundreds of gallons of water.Plastic water bottles tend to be ugly and to take up a lot of space.  Thinking about it, it is really incredible how so many people take up storage space in their home  to store bottled water.  A  water filter  such as the AQ-4000 only takes up a few square inches of your counter top space . Some people drink bottled water because they think tap water will be safe.  This is a very common misconception, but it is also very misinformed.  The Food and Drug Administration does not regulate bottled water, but it does regulate tap water.  Tap water is at least somewhat safe, but you have no such guarantees with bottled water.  If you put your home water supply through a  filter, you make it even safer by removing metals and contaminants.Now that you know a little bit more about the relative benefits of using  water filters versus bottled water, I hope you can go out and start making wiser consumer choices.  Remember that  water filters save money, look better,and are safer as well.

November 20, 2008

Home Water Filter Types

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — @ 8:42 pm

Fresh water is vital to human life. A healthy person can drink about three gallons of water every day. The daily recommended intake of water is eight cups per day. The United States uses about 346,000 million gallons of fresh water daily. The largest use of water in the home occurs in the bathroom, which includes the toilet, bath and shower. Out of all the water on earth, we can only use about three tenths of one percent of this water. Our usable water is stored in groundwater aquifers, rivers, and freshwater lakes.

Almost all drinking water contains small amounts of some contaminants. As long as the amounts remain below certain levels, they pose no health risk to healthy people. But people with weakened immune systems may be at risk even if their drinking water is deemed to be safe. Every year, Americans spend billions of dollars on home water treatment. Almost half of Americans use a home water filter. Home water filter types range from simple, inexpensive pitchers to sophisticated reverse osmosis systems.

Different types of home water filters remove different contaminants from your drinking water. More sophisticated home water filters may use a combination of filtration methods. Home water filters can be free-standing, attached to a water tap, permanently installed in the faucet’s plumbing, connected to a refrigerator or ice maker, or centrally attached in a way that filters the entire home’s water supply.

Home water filters that only treat the water you consume are usually called point-of-use filters. The most common point-of-use home water filter is the water filtration pitcher, like the well-known Brita pitcher. Most water filtration pitchers use activated carbon filters to remove contaminants. Pitcher type home water filters are effective at improving taste and odor, and may also reduce lead and other contaminants. They do not, however, remove disease-causing organisms.

The activated carbon filters used by filtration pitchers require regular replacement after a specified amount of water has been filtered. Check the directions that came with the filtration pitcher for more information.

Another common example of home water filter types are filters that attach to your faucet. Alternatively, these are sometimes installed under your sink and deliver filtered water through a separate sink-top faucet. Faucet-attached or undercounter home water filters usually are based on the same filtration technology as water pitchers. A block of activated carbon or similar material physically filters out contaminants. These point-of-use filters also improve water taste and odor, while also filtering contaminants like lead. Filters have a limited life and must be replaced regularly.

Distillers are home water filters that heat water to the boiling point, the collect the condensing water vapor. Distillation kills disease-causing organisms and removes most chemical contaminants, but may leave behind other impurities like radon. Many people complain that the taste of distilled water is “flat.” This is because the distillation process removes dissolved oxygen and natural minerals.

Reverse-osmosis home water filters work by using pressure to force water through a semi-permeable membrane. Reverse-osmosis home water filters use about three times as much water as they treat, but are the most effective of all home water filter types. They effectively eliminate all disease-causing microbes and remove most chemicals.

Devices that filter the water for your whole house are usually called point-of-entry filters. Point-of-entry filters can reduce the dangers from water-borne chemicals that turn into gases inside your home. Point-of-entry home water filters also reduce problems related to water quality like scaling, staining, and odor.

November 12, 2008

High Quality Aquasana Water Filters are Effective and Efficient

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — @ 3:21 pm

High quality Aquasana filters are some of the best water filtration devices available.  Manufactured in Texas, these USA made filters are some of the most effective and efficient filters available to consumers. Their different models include the AQ-4000 counter top filter, the AQ-4500 under the sink filter, the AQ-4501 deluxe under counter filter, the AQ-4100 shower filter and the EQ-300 whole house filter.

Both the AQ-4000 (the basis of the AQ-4500 filter) and the EQ-300 have received Underwriter Laboratories UL certification. This is a very expensive process to go through and takes an average of three years to go through the complete process. The AQ-4000 is the filter system for both the counter top and the under the sink version. Consumers Magazine “Best Buy” has rated this filter five years in a row. This is a “twin-cartridge” system. The cost per gallon is less than 10 cents per gallon. The savings over both delivered bottled water and plastic disposable water is significant. Plus, considering the enormous landfill issue with plastic bottles buying these make a lot of sense. We got ours through Better Water Store. Shipping was free and we got a great price!

November 9, 2008

Filtered Water Instead Of Tap?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — @ 12:34 pm

This is just one of the questions that comes up quite often when talking about water filters. There are many others as well that people ask simply because they don’t know about the topic. Is it really better for you? Is my tap water really dangerous? Is it ok to drink when I’m pregnant? Well luckily I’m here to give you some answers. Not all the technical stuff. Just the facts.

Filter water is much safer than tap water. Tap water contains thousands of pesticides, hundreds of chemical compounds, and hundreds of organic chemicals as well. If I gave you a glass of water and told you that I had put car battery acid in it would you drink it? Think about that the next time you get a glass of tap water. Some of those chemicals are know to cause birth defects. If you wouldn’t drink alcohol when your pregnant then you definitely shouldn’t drink tap water. Many of the chemicals are also traced back to types of cancer and nerve damage.

So after hearing all of that what do you think about it? Is tap water dangerous? Those are facts. Not opinions or guesses. Those are plain truth. So please, go out and buy a water filter. It can save lives and for the price I think it is well worth it.

November 3, 2008

A Shower Filter Can Help Reduce Allergies

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — @ 4:42 pm

Using a shower filter can help you reduce your allergies. The shower is the “perfect” place to make chlorine gas and water that has been treated with chlorine when heated turn into chlorine gas which people who are sensitive to chemicals can have an reaction. When we shower our pores open up and allows easy absorption into our bodies. Have you ever been in a shower with a lot of chlorine in the water and start coughing?  Not good! Plus the effect it has on your skin an  harm isn’t too good either.  We got  a system that attached to the shower head that was connected in just a few minutes with a pair of pliers.

All we had to do was to unscrew the old one and put some of that thin teflon tape around the threads and fit the new one. Simple.  We are very happy we got ours, not only can we breath in the shower our skin and hair feels so much better now! The filter needs changing once every six months and is easy and inexpensive to do.  Ours came with a massager that feels great.  Hot shower without chlorine works for us.

October 29, 2008

Using a Countertop Water Filter Is Simple

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — @ 10:37 am

When my husband first suggested getting a countertop water filter, I was afraid it’d be too difficult to use. My elderly mother often visits and is notoriously afraid of new technology.  My concern was that it would be too difficult for her to use.  However, I was shocked to learn just how easy using a countertop water filter is.

Once it was installed, we didn’t have to do anything different than we normally would when we used our faucet.  Simply turn the faucet on, and clean, fresh water comes out.  My husband does the maintenance, which is simple and infrequent.  Mainly he just changes the filter when appropriate and makes sure that all of the working parts are clean and in working order. We’ve noticed such a difference since using our Aquasana AQ-4000 countertop water filter, I sometimes wonder how we got along with it for so long. Anyone contemplating the investment should really go forward with it, we’ve saved so much money not having to buy plastic water bottles anymore. Not to mention the environmental impact of not wasting those bottles anymore.

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