Blast off fat (way) faster

Tired of plugging away at the gym without seeing the pounds disappear? We found simple tricks that will transform your usual regimen into the ultimate fat-blasting routine. Whether you use just two of these strategies or all seven, our insider tips will help you get the calorie-burn you deserve.

1. Know this: “You’ll be able to comfortably work out longer and harder if you’re cool,” says Len Kravitz, PhD, coordinator of exercise science at the University of New Mexico. “Being too hot stresses your body out, so you don’t perform as well.” Translation: You burn less fat.
Do this: When exercising at home, put a fan in front of your workout area. Hitting the gym? Wait to use the treadmill that has a fan built into the console.

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2. Know this: “Wearing a heart-rate monitor makes it easier to burn more body fat by showing just how hard you’re really working,” Kravitz says. “Keeping your heart rate in the right zone prevents you from slacking off, so you make the most of every minute.”
Do this: Invest in a heart-rate monitor and wear it every time you exercise. We love Life Fitness’s new Dual Watch and Heart Rate Monitor ($60; at CVS stores nationwide). It’s simple to program and use. It doesn’t require an uncomfortable chest strap—just touch the face with your fingertips. And it comes in a variety of sizes too.

3. Know this: “Warming up for five minutes before each workout helps you lose more weight,” says Heather Dillinger, an IDEA Health and Fitness Association elite-level personal-fitness trainer. “It not only makes your muscles more pliable but also increases their range of motion, so you end up using more muscle fibers as you exercise.”
Do this: Choose a warm-up routine that hits all of your muscles, not just your legs. The easiest option: Do three to five minutes of low-intensity walking while pumping your arms back and forth.

Health.com: 10 ways to walk off fat faster

4. Know this: “Saving your energy for the end of your cardio workout may prevent you from losing as much weight as you can,” says metabolism expert Dixie Stanforth, of the department of kinesiology and health education at the University of Texas at Austin.
Do this: Instead of starting out slow and then finishing up strong, do your high-intensity cardio early in your workout. After doing your warm-up, try exercising at a high intensity for 15 minutes before slowing down to a more moderate pace for the last 15 minutes.

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5. Know this: “Two smaller workouts can be more effective than one,” Stanforth reveals. That’s because every time you do high-intensity exercise, your metabolism stays revved for an hour or more afterward. Splitting up your workout boosts your metabolism twice, giving you additional calorie-burning time from the exact same routine.
Do this: Divide your workout into two smaller, high-intensity sessions—preferably, doing one in the morning and one at night.

Health.com: The 7 best fat-blasters

6. Know this: If you’re convinced that you’re melting fat while exercising, you’ll make a mind-body connection that will actually help you lose fat faster, Dillinger explains. In a 2007 Harvard study, participants who believed they were getting a good workout showed greater reductions in body fat than subjects who performed the same activities but didn’t feel like they were really exercising.
Do this: The next time you do anything active, remind yourself every few minutes that you’re giving it your all. This little mental move may motivate you to push yourself harder, leading to even greater fat loss.

Health.com: 5 foods that are more fattening than you think

7. Know this: “The less time you rest between sets when strength training, the more calories you’re likely to burn,” Dillinger notes. “Keeping rest periods short keeps your heart rate at a higher rate, which naturally increases the number of calories you’re using.”
Do this: The best rule of thumb is to take only a 30-second break between sets (meaning you’ll need a watch with a second hand).

Allergy/Cold/Flu Bath

Allergy/Cold/Flu Bath  Use

This stuff will make you feel and breathe better when your not feeling your best due to colds, allergies, and/or bath.

Ingredients for Allergy/Cold/Flu Bath:

• 5 drops eucalyptus oil
• 5 drops peppermint oil
• 4 drops lavender oil
• 7 drops of thyme oil, see note (optional)

Preparation of Allergy/Cold/Flu Bath:

1. Add together all ingredients.
2. Note: If chest is congested add 7 drops of Thyme.
3. Use in bath, diffuser or humidifier.

Reinvent your breakfast

Having the same boring cornflakes everyday can tire you out. But with a bit of creativity you can give an interesting spin to your same old breakfast, while retaining its health content. 

Here we share some valuable tips with you.

- Add a small scoop of jam or maple syrup to your bowl of porridge to make it delicious. Even flavoured yogurt makes for a great accompaniment to porridge.

- Go for bagels, muffins, cake or croissant. Bagels particularly taste good with breakfast cereals. Spread some cream cheese or jelly on it and it'll taste even better.

- If you wish to make your breakfast a lavish fare, try out a combination of cereals with crispy pancakes. Pancakes are easy to make. Simply mix wheat flour, honey, one egg, baking powder, milk, salt and oil, and serve it with roasted tomatoes.

- Another way to make your dull breakfast interesting is by making it protein rich. Try out mushroom French egg toast or mushroom egg scramble with your cornflakes. Add to it cherry tomatoes and baked beans and have it with cheese or spinach dip.

- To make your breakfast fibre-rich, put together a sandwich with whole grain cereals and nuts. You can opt for whole wheat or multi-grained bread as it is rich in dietary fibre, and stuff it with spinach, corn, mushroom and mashed potato.

- Such fruits as strawberry, banana, cherry and mango, and nuts go very well with any kind of breakfast. A fistful of nuts and dry fruits taken everyday boosts your energy levels. Take fresh fruit juice with your breakfast cereal, but avoid the canned and bottled ones. 

Flat stomach food guide

Tired of not knowing what kinds of foods to eat? Not sure how much fat, calories and sodium you should be consuming everyday? All the tips you need are here.... 

In addition to regular exercise, you'll also want to add some fat burning foods to your diet to help trim your waistline.

Foods that are high in protein and fibre are the best kinds of food to eat if you want to burn fat around your middle.

Did you know that it takes more energy to digest protein than it does to digest fat? So the more protein you eat, the more calories your body burns.

Eggs 
Eggs are super high in protein and can help you burn that unwanted belly fat. They contain the vitamin B12 – a great supplement for breaking down fat cells.

You may have heard all the warnings about eggs and your health. That's because a couple of eggs will put you over the recommended daily amount of cholesterol.

Well, more recent studies have shown that dietary cholesterol has a minimal impact on blood cholesterol. Dietary fat is the real culprit. It's what raises your bad cholesterol levels.

However, if you're still worried about your overall cholesterol intake from eating too many eggs, you can remove the yolk and still benefit from the high protein contained in eggs.

Low fat dairy products 
According to an article in Obesity Research, women who ate low-fat dairy products, such as nonfat yogurt and low-fat milk, three to four times a day, lost 70 per cent more fat than low-dairy dieters.

In another study done at Purdue University those who consumed 3 cups of fat-free milk gained less weight over the course of 2 years than those on low calcium diets.

So, not only do dairy products help you strengthen your bones, they can also play an essential role in burning that unwanted body fat.

If you are a regular consumer of milk and other dairy products, that's great, just watch your proportions and perhaps switch over to the low or no fat varieties.

Beans 
While beans are often associated with the gastrointestinal disturbances they may cause, they are also very good sources of protein, fibre and iron.

Some of the best kinds of beans to eat are:
- Navy beans
- White beans
- Kidney beans
- Lima beans

And as always, limit baked and refried beans in your diet as refried beans contain tons of saturated fat, while baked beans are usually loaded in sugar. Sure, you'll be getting your protein but you'll also be consuming a lot of fat and sugar that you don't need.

Here's something else to remember. Be sure to cook your beans thoroughly because our digestive tracks are not adapted to breaking down some proteins that are contained in certain beans.

Tip: A vegetable called Edamame (pronounced ed-uh-ma-may) – an organic soybean in a pod often served at Japanese restaurants.

All you do is boil them for three minutes, add a pinch of salt and eat the soybeans out of the pods. They are surprisingly tasty and very good for you. One serving contains 10 grams of soy protein. The best place to find them is at a store that sells organic foods.

Oatmeal 
While it may not be the tastiest thing you can eat, oatmeal definitely has some great nutritional qualities.

You may have noticed that many of the oatmeal brands are now boasting that eating more oatmeal will help lower your cholesterol level. That's because oatmeal is loaded with soluble fibre which helps reduce blood cholesterol by flushing those bad digestive acids out of your system.

The best kind of oatmeal to eat is unsweetened and unflavoured. While it's tempting to select the apples and cinnamon flavour and load it with butter and sugar – you really lose out on all the health benefits. If you must sweeten your bowl of oatmeal, do so by adding fruit.

Or add a spoonful of honey (much better for you than sugar) and a handful of raisins or dried cranberries.

Oatmeal is also beneficial in fighting colon cancer and heart disease.

Olive oil 
Certain fats are good for you and your body needs them. Olive oil is one of those 'good fats'. In fact, it's so good that it helps you burn fat and keeps your cholesterol down.

Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat, a type of fat that researchers are finding provide outstanding health benefits. One ounce of extra virgin olive oil contains about 85 per cent of the daily value for monounsaturated fat.

So instead of taking a swig of orange juice in the morning, many dieters are picking up a bottle of extra virgin olive oil.

Whole grains 
These days everyone seems to be screaming "No carbs!" It's as if the world has gone no-carb crazy and everyone is running from sliced breads and pastas.

Well the truth is, your body needs carbohydrates. If you go without them completely your body will start to crave them. So it's not a good idea to exclude all carbs because the right kinds are actually good for you.

It's the processed carbohydrates that are bad for you – the white breads, bagels, pastas, and white rice to name a few.

The above foods have all been processed, thus stripping out all the nutrients leaving you with loads of starch.

The key is to eat 'whole grain' foods because they haven't been processed and contain the fiber and minerals your body needs.

So don't be fooled by a loaf of bread labeled 'wheat'. Regular wheat bread is still lacking in vitamins and minerals. Manufacturers add molasses to it so it turns brown.

Don't let them trick you. The only kind of bread that's good for you is the kind that's labeled 'whole grain'.

Meat and fish 
Turkey and beef are great for building muscle and boosting the immune system, but as always you have to be careful as:

Basted turkeys are usually injected with fatty substances while beef contains saturated fat. If you are going to eat beef, be sure to consume the leanest cuts you can find by looking for 'loin' or 'round' on the labels.

Salmon and tuna are also good sources of protein. They both contain omega-3 fatty acids which may sound bad, but are actually healthy fats. These two foods are also good for giving your immune system a nice boost and should be consumed at least thrice a week. 

A do or diet situation?

By this time of the year, most New Year's resolutions to lose weight have long since bitten the dust. But if it was that fancy diet that did you in, fret not, as a recent study has proved that the prospects for successful dieting are never good. Out of every 100 people who diet, only four are able to both lose weight and maintain their post-diet weight. 

Dietician Gunasekaran says, "Women have a wrong conception about dieting. Dieting is not starvation — it is the increase in the intake of vitamin-rich food and reduction in the intake of carbohydrate-rich food."

Dieting is so popular that in the past 10 years, it's estimated that around 70 per cent of the adult female population and 30 per cent of all adult males have been on one. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's the Atkins diet or liquid diets; people will try almost anything in their frantic desire to shed a few pounds.

Here are some hard facts about dieting: 

Dieting makes you feel hungry and deprived 
Research shows that no matter what your size, dieting makes you hungry and creates powerful cravings for the very foods you are trying to avoid. Dieters also have to manage the feelings of deprivation. This kind of thinking is likely to lead to rebellious overeating.

Dieters lapse and collapse 
A diet only works for as long as you are on it. Most people get bored with rigid eating plans and go off the rails from time to time.The trouble is that, for many people, a lapse is a sign of failure. They tell themselves they've 'blown it' and experience feelings of inadequacy.

The lapse becomes a slippery slope and they end up eating anything that's not nailed to the floorboards because 'it's fine, I'll start again tomorrow'. Such people go from diet to diet, hoping to find the one that will stop them from failing. But such a diet doesn't exist!

Diets fail to address the emotional aspect of overeating 
People often overeat to deal with emotional problems, rather than because they're very hungry. This is normal, but some people gain weight because they turn to food for emotional comfort or to cope with negative feelings like anger or loss — for example, after a bad day at work, after a row with a loved one or as an end to a long week. "Each time I quarrel with my boyfriend, I end up hogging double the regular portion," says Krithika, a college student.

So it is the lifestyle and not the diet. In a world full of temptations, it's laudable to want to be a healthy weight and to manage your eating. However, dieting as we know it, is not the way to do it. "You can initially lose five to ten per cent of your weight on any number of diets, but then, the weight comes back," says Traci Mann, an associate professor of psychology.

People determine that someday they'll do the right thing, but for now, they're quite comfortable with where they are at. If you don't make the necessary changes now, it can show up later as a health problem. Changing the way you eat, the amount you exercise, or the way in which you live can make all the difference. 

Causes of bad breath

What you eat affects the air you exhale. Certain foods, such as garlic and onions, contribute to objectionable breath odour. Once the food is absorbed into the bloodstream, it is transferred to the lungs, where it is expelled.

Brushing, flossing and mouthwash will only mask the odour temporarily. Odours continue until the body eliminates the food. People on a diet may develop unpleasant breath from infrequent eating.

If you do not brush and floss daily, particles of food remain in the mouth, collecting bacteria, which can cause bad breath. Food that collects between the teeth, on the tongue and around the gums can rot, leaving an unpleasant odour.

Dentures that are not cleaned properly can also harbour odour causing bacteria and food particles.

One of the warning signs of periodontal (gum) disease is persistent bad breath or a bad taste in the mouth. Periodontal disease is caused by plaque, the sticky, colourless film of bacteria that constantly forms on teeth. The bacteria produce toxins that irritate the gums. In the advanced stage of the disease, the gums, bone and other structures that support the teeth become damaged.

Bad breath is also caused by dry mouth (xerostomia), which occurs when the flow of saliva decreases.

Tobacco products cause bad breath, stain teeth, reduces one's ability to taste foods and irritate gum tissues. Tobacco users are more likely to suffer from periodontal disease and are at greater risk for developing oral cancer.

Bad breath may be the sign of a medical disorder, such as a local infection in the respiratory tract (nose, throat, windpipe, lungs), chronic sinusitis, postnasal drip, chronic bronchitis, diabetes, gastrointestinal disturbance, liver or kidney ailment.

Smoking or chewing tobacco-based products causes bad breath and can also stain teeth, irritate gum tissue, and exacerbate tooth decay.

Overnight, bacteria accumulate in the mouth, causing bad breath that is commonly referred to as 'morning breath.' Some people breathe through their mouth at night, which can cause dry mouth and worsen morning breath.

8 all-natural ways to get to sleep

You’re exhausted and staring at the clock. Trying to head to bed early, you crawl in at around 9:30pm. And so it goes, as the time clicks past 10pm… Then 11pm… Then 1am… And so on.
For some (or most) having a great night’s sleep isn’t really a priority. We fall into bed because we need to, but our mind is occupied with everything we need to do the next day.
The thing is, having a good night’s sleep is exactly what our body needs. It is the foundation of our health and overall well-being. Not only do we feel better after a good sleep, but we function better, too. Our physical, emotional, and mental health depends on it.
Eight hours asleep isn’t necessarily what everyone needs. Some people can nod off around 2am and be bright and ready for the early morning. Others need to head to bed around 9pm to feel refreshed. Although experts consider seven hours to be the number we need, some of us can get by with a little less.
Tossing and turning isn’t the only thing that keeps us from having a good sleep. Some of us just don’t sleep well, anyway. These are often the lighter sleepers, who never fall into that deep sleep to bring us to pure dozed off bliss.
Not sleeping well? Here are eight all-natural remedies for you to get to bed, and feel refreshed in the morning.

Cut the Caffeine

Perhaps an obvious solution, coffee, tea and other items like chocolate stimulate our bodies and create extra energy. Some folks can’t have coffee in the evening, others need to avoid it all day. If you like your cuppa joe, figure out what time works best, and then try not to drink it any time after.

Shove off the Sugar

Like coffee and caffeine, sugar spikes your blood sugar, creating a boost of energy and then a crash. Sugar should be avoided before bed… But in moderation throughout the day.

Find Some Stress Relief

If you’re super stressed, chances are a good night’s sleep isn’t going to happen. Try to find a way to relieve your mind before bed. For example, writing a list of the next day’s To Do’s often relaxes your mind, or calling a friend or family member and telling them what’s on your mind will help out, too.

Move Your Body… But not too late

If you exercise before bed, your body creates endorphins, making it difficult to sleep right after you finish. However, if you exercise in the morning or late afternoon, it helps bring you back down before bedtime. Take the time to treat yourself to a long walk, some strength training, or a cardio session throughout the day, for a better sleep in the night.

Take a Bath

How can a bath NOT make you feel better? You don’t have to fill it with bubbles, but sitting in the warm water — or even having a warm shower — will bring your body’s temperature to a comfortable state, getting your mind and soul ready to tuck into the covers.

Have Some Tea

Certain teas, such as chamomile, have calming effects on the body, making them a perfect pre-bed beverage. Simply make a chamomile tea 30 to 45 minutes before going to bed to treat sleeplessness.

Don’t Eat Too Much

Stuffing yourself before bed results in poor digestion, making it hard to get into that deep sleep. A snack is fine– just don’t go to bed overwhelmed and full.

Stay on Schedule

On days you don’t have to get up early, get up early anyway. If you get up at 6am most mornings, aim for no later than 7am for the weekends. Sure, you’d love to sleep in, but staying on routine will help you have better sleeps in the future.