Thursday, July 30, 2009

Online Weight loss tips that worked


What motivated me to lose weight? I remember before when I decided to lose some weight, my brother asked me “Why do you want to lose weight? Eating is fun and you don’t really need to lose weight at all.”. This information from my obese brother made me confuse that is why I suddenly stopped my weight loss program. A few years after that, I did watch some movies and shows and see that most celebrities are in perfect shape. Whenever I see them on commercials, I noticed that they take a little bite on the products they endorsed especially if its junk food. That didn’t motivate me again. Suddenly, the internet started to make a lot of information on weight loss. I did some research when I finally decided to lose weight seriously. Obviously my brother(who is still obese at this day) told me the same thing. This time I won’t be affected by it so I’ll probably do it in a committed way. I did research some information online. Most of them are really hard to follow. Suggestions like:


- Eat 6 small meals a day

- Sleep 8 hours every night

- Don’t eat any meat, junk foods, candies, and ice creams.

- Stop drinking sodas even if its diet

- Stop consuming carbohydrates

- Don’t drink alcohol at all

All of the things said above this are so hard to follow. My lifestyle won’t fit into it. Like any other normal people, I drink soda, beer, and other alcoholic drinks. The suggestions above also drove me nuts thinking that I won’t lose weight if I didn’t follow one. I kept researching and I found out some suggestions that I can follow like:


- Do cardio 30 minutes or more a day, 5 days a week. If you find it boring, get some sport.

- Lift some weights. If you can’t go to the gym, lift something heavy in your home.

- Reduce your calorie intake to 500 to 1000 a day. Eat a lot of clean stuff like natural carbohydrates, oat meal, and brown rice.

- Have a cheat day! That’s the weekend.


After doing these suggestions, all I can say right now that they do work. I lost 45 lbs in 4 months by following them. Cardio was a task at first. It became an addiction a few weeks after. Weight lifting burns sugar and fat. Eating a lot of clean stuff buffs you up and distributes fat all over. In fact, they are easy to burn compared to junk food and it won’t make you look stupid when you’re eating in front of your friends. I noticed when Im in a restaurant with my friends and I make it look obvious to them that Im on a diet, I feel kinda vain in front of them. Now I eat more than what they eat but I make sure that what I eat is clean. Once my metabolism improves at its best, I might compete with them someday in some junk food eating.




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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Calorie replacement after cardio



I did some sprints this afternoon. Whenever I sprint, I feel the burn targeted in my stomach. A lot of people around me are jogging as well. I learned that jogging can only reduce those hard earned arm size. Im more focused on my little tummy fat which is a few inches away from becoming a flat one. I used to jog before and a few months after that, I lost some weight the wrong way. I also remember my diet during those days were 500-1000 calories below my daily limit because I was really serious in losing some weight. Thanks to Tom Venuto's advice on his book "Burn the fat, Feed the Muscle" where he suggested that you can still maintain those arm size and lose that belly fat by eating more clean stuff and doing some cardio. This book is the best and most honest when it comes to this topic that is why its worth buying.

I sprinted for about 30 minutes and walk whenever I need to refill my energy. A few hours after that, my brother invited me to have dinner so we went to this restaurant called Tender Bob's and they serve a lot of tempting junk foods. Good thing they have salad. I replaced those calories I burned when I was sprinting by eating a large amount of Chicken Caesar Salad. I did eat some steak too but I did get rid of those fat around it. I just went for water instead of soda.

Im thinking of gaining weight but I wanted to gain it the right way. I want the weight gain to go in my upper body instead of my lower one. My goal is to get big arms, shoulders, chest, and melt the fat in my tummy till it gets a six pack. In the past year, I used to be someone who is very addicted to alcohol, junk foods, and sweets. I felt my heart started to palpitate when I had enough of those. Now I just take them moderately and only on my cheat day. I know I can eat them someday again when I go to weight maintenance mode. I will still try them on my cheat day.

I noticed after tonight's dinner, I didn't feel my tummy becoming heavy eventhough I ate a chicken salad good for 4 people. I felt the heaviness in my shoulders and chest. Maybe its because of what I ate. Whenever I eat a pasta and a burger, I feel that my tummy is the one thats becoming heavy. I'll probably take control of that then. There is this rule that one should eat six small meals a day which I believe is right if you are not doing any cardio activity. In case you're doing a cardio activity, you can still eat as much as you want as long as what you eat is clean.


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Monday, July 27, 2009

Sprinting for fat tummy loss

Around 8 months ago, I decided to lose some weight. What I did was bought myself an elliptical trainer. I used it for about 2 months cause I feel kinda shy exercising in front of people in my home. I can't keep it in my room cause it consumes space. Although it helped me lose some weight. A neighbor told me that there is a jogging path near our home that is why I decided not to use the elliptical trainer for awhile. I went to that place my neighbor told me and found out that it would be a good location to lose some pounds. There are a lot of people who jog there that is why doing cardio on my part is not gonna be boring. I jogged there for about 5 months, 30-45 minutes a day, 3-5 times a week. I noticed that I shrinked a lot. Somehow, I wasn't satisfied with the result. The result seems to look like a big pear turning into a small pear.

I decided to gain weight after that so I increased my calorie intake and hitted the gym. 3 months after I noticed that my body is starting to become a little bit of proportional. My arms became a little bit bigger and my tummy shrinked about an inch. Maybe its because the muscles I build burned the additional calories. Anyway, I feel a little bit impatient sometime. I can't get rid of junk foods and booze. Although I consume them moderately like once or twice a week. Whenever I eat and drink them, I do have concerns that flatenning my tummy is just an illusion. I did some research on the weight loss/gain guide blogs that I subscribed to. Most of them suggest that in order for me to lose this tummy fat, I have to go sprinting. Other tips suggest things like swimming, raquetball, rowing, and uphill running. I decided to go for sprinting. The only fear that I have is that I might lose this muscles I build in my arms. The articles I read suggest that I shouldn't worry about it. They say sprinters are muscle built people while runners look sick. I just remember last week that I did a little HIIT cardio training. When I was on the sprinting part, I felt some heat circulating my stomach which I hope is a sign of fat burning in the area. When I was doing jogging a few months ago, I noticed that the burning effect starts with the face, chest, arms, and tummy in an orderly manner. If I did what I was doing in the past few months, I'll probably look like someone who looks sick so I'll be trying the consistent sprinting instead alternate it with walking in case I get tired. Im just gonna make sure that I'll be eating right most of the time and continue my weight lifting.


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Sunday, July 26, 2009

Cheating my diet

Sunday is my cheat day. What I ate this week are a bunch of healthy foods. I went to Chili's Grill again this afternoon and I ordered a Mushroom swiss burger to spoil my diet. My cousin and I estimated that this burger with fries included, estimates to 2000 calories. That is way too above the average calorie intake per meal. I probably wonder if these are good or bad calories. I might say that it has bad calories because its a junk food but I do have some thoughts as well that what Im eating awhile ago are good calories. Good calories are calories that buff you up while bad calories are calories that make you fat and unhealthy. The reason for that is because instead of white bread, I chose the wheat one. My order is stuffed with mushrooms, swiss cheese (dairy), vegetable salad, and tomatoes. Majority of it are good calories. I didn't even experience a bad digestion afterwards. The only bad calories are the transfat inside the burger patty which is fine because, I decided to go for a long walk again after eating it. To conserve calories on my dinner, I didn't order some soda. I just sticked with water which has zero calories.

Fitness experts usually suggest that we should eat six meals a day. Meals compromising of less than 500 calories each which is kinda hard to do unless you're really serious in losing and getting a six pack. Its purpose is to improve your metabolism. Once your metabolism is fine, you can eat whatever you want without worrying about gaining weight. I wanted to gain some weight but Im doing it the healthy way by eating a lot of good calories. Its just that its really hard to get rid of my favorite foods that is why I have to cheat on it sometime.


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Friday, July 24, 2009

Full calories versus empty calories

I had a 5 mile walk to the mall yesterday because I ate a Quarter pounder meal with large twister fries and large soda for lunch. I have to do it instead of just sit down and watch tv the whole day. During my walk, I've been thinking of the best way to lose the tummy fat. A lot of articles and websites had suggested so many things that I didn't even know which one to follow. Some suggest that you should lose the overall body fat percentage first then start working out on your muscle growth. In this case, I might look weak and my metabolism might slow down because of muscle loss. There are also some that suggest that its better to do the opposite which is gain weight and muscles first then start burning your overall body fat. It may sound a little better to me because cardio isn't really hard at all. The only hard thing about this suggestion is that you totally need to eat full and clean calories besides the empty ones.

So does it mean that I have to give up the tempting foods? I guess I should because Its all about full calories versus empty calories. Full calories are the ones that are made up of good nutrition while empty calories are the ones that has mostly fats and sugar in it. Its like oatmeal for breakfast instead of bacon and jam. For lunch, I can serve myself some brown rice and grilled chicken instead of white rice and fried food. For snack, I'll go for fruit instead of chips. For dinner, I can just serve myself some salad.

Full calories are distributed all over your body that is why its easy to burn, while empty ones goes straight to your tummy and its the last place for stored fat to burn. Im aiming for additional size in my arms and chest and a little bit of tummy reduction so I guess all I have to do right now is to fill my refrigerator with healthy foods especially the ones with full calories, eat more of it, and hit the gym thrice a week with a a 20 minute HIIT cardio after each workout. Its not really expensive though. I really do love burgers but in order for me to trim my tummy fat, I really do have to limit it to once a week. Burgers are filled with empty calories. Just have to sacrifice them for the sake of tummy reduction. I guess it won't take that long.

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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Energy drinks before workout (Cobra Energy Drink)

Afternoon is the time where I go to the gym. The only problem is I get sleepy during that time. When I feel like that, I get weak in lifting some weights. Good thing I noticed that energy drinks can help you. Im referring to the ones that have high sugar in it. There are energy drinks there that don't have sugar. This energy drink that Im referring too is called the "Cobra Energy Drink". The drink has 195 calories which came from 3 g of fat, 49mg of sodium, 39 g of Carbohydrates which is also sugar, 3 g of protein, and it does have some Taurine and vitamins in it which gives you some mental alertness. I was scared of drinking it before because of it's high sugar. Before, when I depend too much on sweets, I usually get a sugar rush and some heart palputations because I don't workout during that time. Sugars does make you fat as well.

It really does work before workout. When I wasn't drinking it, I easily get tired at the gym. Maybe its because Im sleepy as well. This afternoon, I drank a bottle of this energy drink and I totally got energized. It's sugar content motivated me to lift more and to lift heavier as well.The fact in weight loss is sugar and carbs burn first and lifting weights are the best way to burn those. Cardio can burn it after 15 minutes. I can feel the sugar burning inside my body. After working out, I went for HIIT cardio for 20 minutes since Im focused on trimming my tummy a little bit. Hours later, I felt my muscles are growing a little bit thats why I decided to just sit down and blog about this energy drink.

Most people usually get tired after work. Its probably good to inform them that they should have a shot of this energy drink first before they go to the gym. If they are not gym fanatics, I guess its better to go for black coffee. Anyway, in case you drink this energy drink, try to make sure that you're going to be physically busy so you won't have this feeling of sugar rush. It really taste good and I guess Im gonna be addicted to it.



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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

What Counting calories can do

Before, I don't really care how many calories I eat. All I think about is how good the food is. I also thought about adding more butter, mayonaise, and margarine to it which totally adds a lot of fat calories. My parents always take me to a good treat every night in our house especially the holidays. Once the food is served, I feel really excited to be the first in line to stick the fork on it. When there is a buffet in some events, I go for 5 rounds. A few months before, after being in that kind of lifestyle, I finally decided to lose weight. It started with counting calories. This type of thing is really boring at first. I feel stupid in front of people whenever we are dining out with my fingers calculating how many calories the food has. I got used to it a few weeks after.

Right now, I don't count calories anymore. All I do is just estimate the calories in the food I eat. If its a burger, fries, and soda meal, I estimate that to 1000 - 1800 calories (depending on the burger size). Whenever I cheat my diet, I always go for some big burger. A slice of 18 inch pizza has 550 -780 calories. If its a steak meal with vegetables and mashed potatoes, I estimate it to 800 - 1400 calories (especially if you eat the fat in the steak). If I crave for a Lay's potato chips, I count it to around 1200 calories per bag. Sodas do have 100-180 calories so I just stick to diet soda or water which has zero calories. If its a healthy meal like salad and fruits, I estimate it to 80-300 of good calories(cause most of its calories are from it's vitamins,clean carbs, and fiber). I always take note that these calories from healthy foods also burns calories. A cup of rice is around 250 calories. A cup of brown rice has more calories but its the healthy choice. When I was totally serious in losing weight, I sticked to the good calories.

What I learned about counting calories is that you're not going to be afraid to gain weight as long as you know how to balance your meal. I also noticed that most calories are found from fats on junk foods although I don't need to worry about it as long as I eat it in a balanced way. I spoil if I want to but there are also days that I only eat the healthy ones. Calorie counting is important for weight gain(if you want to gain weight the right way) and weight loss as well. You just don't need to look like a weight conscious person when doing it.

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Monday, July 20, 2009

HIIT cardio for fat loss


I wanted to gain some muscle weight and lose the remaining little fat on my tummy at the same time. Im actually thinking how Im gonna do it. I did a lot of research today online. Most of it tells me that its hard to gain weight and lose tummy fat at the same time. Some say its impossible so I think I'll just go in maintaining muscle and losing fat. I just wanted to lower my body fat percentage to 10%. Right now its 17% and that means I still need to reduce it by 7% so I can start doing some situps and form that 6 pack. Im thinking of doing cardio after weight loss because cardio alone will deteriorate the muscles I have which I've been working out for 3 and a half months now with whey protein as my muscle supplement. I didn' t do any workout before. All I did was cardio and it did gave me weight loss in a bad shape. I stopped doing cardio for 3 months and went to weight lifting to gain some muscles. Im satisfied with my muscles now. I just wanted to eliminate the remaining fat in my tummy.

Im planning to do the HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) cardio to prevent muscle loss and focus more on losing fat. To explain it carefully, the pattern of it is like this: Walk for a few seconds, Jog for a few seconds, and run for a 25 seconds or more, then walk again. Redo the pattern over and over. Just don't overdo it so that you can maintain your muscles. I did it before and I noticed that the burning effect is focused on your stomach. I'll be doing it after workout. Probably 3-4 times a week. I'll probably start in a few days cause the weather is not really good at the moment. For my diet, all Im gonna do is replace some bad carbs with good ones and add more protein on it.

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Monday, July 13, 2009

Brown rice for weight loss


I've been substituting my white rice with brown rice for almost 2 weeks now. I noticed a lot of differences in it. Its preparation is not as hard as the white rice preparation as long as you are cooking it the old fashioned way. I don't use rice cooker. In case I use rice cooker, I'll wash the brown rice first three times, soak it for 30 minutes with water rice ratio of 2:1, then start cooking it. The old fashioned way is just wash it three times, have a water cup/rice ration of 4:1, then cook it. My digestion is much better and my tummy has reduced an inch. What I love about this brown rice is that its very healthy. It does have carbs but these are complex ones (what the pros suggest as good carbohydrates). Although its kinda hard to eat at first cause its a little bit rougher than white rice. I also made a research on it and I found out that its really good if you're trying to lose some weight. It simple targets the tummy although many experts suggest that your tummy loses the weight the last. I heard its also good for diabetic people. Most doctors suggest diabetics should prevent themselves from eating white rice. I will continue eating this stuff eventhough its a little bit expensive than white rice. I just felt a pound heavier when after I had a meal with brown rice. After a few hours, I felt 3 pounds lighter. I believe that the fiber and vitamins in it, which is not available in white rice, cleaned my tummy.

For more info about brown rice, you can go to this site.

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Saturday, July 11, 2009

12000 calories a day

My limited calorie in a day for me not to gain weight is 2250 calories. Click here to find out yours . Michael Phelps eats 12000 calories a day. Thats a combination of good and bad food. Here is a video.




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Friday, July 10, 2009

9 minute marinator for your diet

Its really hard to choose healthy foods especially when you're on a very strict diet. Its because junk foods taste so good that its hard to replace them with healthy ones. I was looking for some information on how I can enjoy eating the right foods. Good thing I turned on my TV. I was flipping the channels on my television until I found out this channel promoting the 9 minute marinator that makes a gourmet meal in just a few minutes. The ad even said that it can soften beef in 9 minutes where a spoon can even slice it as is. I was kinda skeptical at first because in my opinion, most advertising channels like that scam people. Remember those weight loss products that didn't work at all? Anyway, Im a big fan of food that is why I decided to give it a try. I called the number on the screen and ordered one. The day after, it was delivered in my home, and I got excited in trying it right away. I planned to prepare some steak on it. I followed the instructions carefully and a few minutes later, my steak is completely marinated. I grilled the marinated steak and when I decided to eat it, I noticed that its not soft at all. I was kinda disappointed at first but then decided to try it again some other time.

I tried to make my own instruction on how I can create a perfect steak still using the 9 minute marinator. What I did was I added the ingredients in the container, put the steak in it together with the meat tenderizer, closed then pumped the marinator to open the steak's pores, released the pressure again, then closed and pumped it another time in a different steak position. After that I put it in the machine where the container rotates. It auto stopped 9 minutes after. I grilled the steak after that. I was kinda worried that the steak might be hard again but when I eat it, it wasn't anymore. It really taste good this time.

So whats my opinion about the 9 minue marinator? All I can say that its worth buying. It really saves you time in cooking a gourmet meal. The only scam thing about it is the way the instruction was delivered in the ad and in the booklet. But in case you follow what I suggested above, you won't regret buying this simple machine. If it worked on the steak, it probably will work on other type of meat and vegetables as well. I'll be giving this product 2 thumbs up. Its also good on vegetable salads if you're on a diet. Its also fun to mix chicken and tuna combined with some natural fruit juice.

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