HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT FAST!

How to lose weight fast? build muscle mass! Anaerobic exercise or strength training only increases our muscular strength and adds much lean shapely muscles to our bodies and the only thing this type of muscular gain will cause is a much more attractive body and increased confidence levels!

Don’t worry you wont end up looking like Arnie Swhatshisname as the only way to achieve this ‘look’ is to take anabolic steroids and growth hormones! Yuk!

If you aim to exercise/work your most powerful muscles, namely your shoulders, thighs, calves, buttocks at a max ouput for a short space of time you will increase the density of mitochondrial power plants within your muscle cells. These plants are like mini furnaces that help the body to burn fat for energy.

Did you know that for every pound or approx 2kg of muscle we lose we are burning 40 less calories a day or better still for every pound of muscle we gain we need to expend 40-50 calories a day just to keep that muscle alive!

When I was in my teens and early twenties I had good muscle mass, I was fit active and strong yet very lean (muscle takes up less space than fat!) and whatever I ate had no effect on my weight. It was only until my thirties that I started to lose muscle mass that I started to gain weight!

If you want to follow a simple strength training program, which I do twice a week, without the use of expensive gym equipment or membership which can be carried out in the comfort of your own home then download the following *free* High Intensity Strength Training’ guide.

Either click on the download button bellow or scroll up to the Free Guide menu at the top of the page and have a browse through some of the other free guides on offer.

To your health

Margaret x

EXCERCISE LESS... REALLY IS MORE!

Calling all gym junkies! read and weep!

If you lead a busy life, finding the time to exercise can be difficult or if you’re like me and you simply don’t like exercising then you’ll love this recent research into fitness that suggests that exercising just a few minutes each week can be just as beneficial as jogging round the park for an hour or so.

More gain for less pain! Sounds too good to be true? ....read on!

Professor Julian Baker from the University of the West of Scotland is at the forefront of this startling new research into fitness. His fitness regime involves short bursts with high intensity activity. For example you can run or step (anything that involves high intensity exercise) flat out for 30 seconds and then rest for 30 seconds. You then repeat this cycle 4 times over. Professor Baker’s research has found that pushing muscles to their absolute limit can improve your fitness. But what’s incredible about this fitness regime is that it lasts for only 4 minutes with 2 of them spent resting! Or put another way with only 2 minutes spent exercising!

Professor Baker recommends that you would need to do the exercises about 3 times a week and your initial fitness level will depend on how quickly you improve your overall fitness.

Current UK government guidelines recommend that we exercise 30 minutes to an hour a day of moderate exercise 5 times a week!

The data compiled by the University of the West of Scotland suggests that this type of training improves above and beyond the benefits gained from exercising for 30 – 60 minutes.

So how can a man or woman who is effectively only exercising for 2 minutes get the same or better fitness benefits as someone who exercises for longer.

One line of reasoning is that if you do short burst exercising you’re working 250% harder in terms of the intensity of the exercise than say a jogger. The exercise for the jogger is much more gentles on the muscles where as the short burst exercises is pushing your muscles to the max, which has the maximum benefit on your fitness.

Scientists are still trying to find out why this type of exercise should work but they do know that exercising to the absolute limit is more effective in reducing blood pressure and widening blood vessels and strengthening muscles.

Depending on your initial level of fitness over a 5 week fitness period of exercising in short burst high intensity could result in a significant loss of body fat and loss of weight but could up your overall level of fitness by as much as 50%.

If you haven’t exercised in a while don’t start running, stepping or any high intensity exercising straight off. You will need to build up from a gentle pace and see your doctor before you start any exercise regime if you have any concerns.

I think everyone no matter how busy and hectic a life they lead can find 12 minutes a week to exercise!

To your health

Margaret x

LACK OF SLEEP MAY MAKE YOU FAT

You may have heard of the now famous Harvard Nurses's study but if not here's a quick synopsis:


The Nurses' Health Study, established in 1976 by Dr. Frank Speizer and the Nurses' Health Study II, established in 1989 by Dr. Walter Willett are the most definitive long-term epidemiological studies conducted to date on older women's health. The study has followed 121,700 female registered nurses since the mid-1970s to assess risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular disease. The studies are among the largest investigations into risk factors for major chronic diseases in women ever conducted.

One of the study's observations noted that lack of sleep lead to some women becoming over weight.  Women who reported sleeping fewer than 5 hours per night were 32% more likely to gain more than 15kg (2st 3lbs) over a span of 16 years and on average 1kg (2lbs) per year more than those who slept longer each night!

The results surprised the researchers and their initial thoughts were like mine ie. those women who slept less must have eaten more but when the results were analysed the opposite was found to be true and the women who were sleeping less were actually eating less!

Research appears to suggest that this sleep LESS weight GAIN  phenomenon may in part be due to the hormone Melatonin or rather lack of it.

Melatonin is the hormone of sleep and is produced when day light starts to fade.  Melatonin is not only responsible for helping us to sleep but it is also a powerful anti oxidant.  More importantly for those of us who have acquired a few extra pounds around our middles melatonin regulates the release of Leptin another hormone which is an important regulator of appetite and consequently weight gain.

If you would like to know how to boost your levels of melatonin and get a great nights' restorative sleep then download my free guide 'Sleep Or Lack Of It' now by clicking on the link below or scroll up to the top of the page and click on Free Guides.

To your health

Margaret x