How To Lose 20 Pounds REALLY, REALLY Fast

By: Tom Venuto

Back "in the day" when I used to be a full time personal trainer and I met with clients in person at my New Jersey Health Club, the first thing I would always ask my clients during the initial consultation was:
"Tell me exactly what you want... and I'll show you how to get it."
Typical reply from client:

"I want to lose 20 pounds fast."

My reply:

"Are you SURE that's what you want? If I can show you how to lose 20 pounds REALLY, REALLY fast, this  picture will that make you happy?"

They nodded their head affirmatively as their eyes lit up in anticipation of the quick weight loss secrets I was about to reveal.

Their face went white when - with a totally straight face - I pulled out a hacksaw and started walking towards them.... menacingly.

Not sure whether to laugh or to run away in sheer terror, they said,

"What the heck are you doing?"

"You said you wanted to lose 20 pounds fast. This is the easiest, surest, most effective way I know to take 20 pounds off you FAST! In fact, I figure that right leg of yours might even weigh 25 pounds!"

I kept walking closer and started to get into sawing position, wielding my fast, effective and guaranteed weight loss tool.

"Bear with me because this IS quick, but sometimes it takes a few minutes for me to cut through the bone."

By this time, my client and I are either completely cracking up, or I have seriously scared the living you know what out of them, or they just think I'm a complete lunatic. (it depends on whether I was able to keep a straight face or not).

Finally, the light bulb goes on, and my client would see where I was going with this:

"Okay, smart alec," I get it. I don't want to lose WEIGHT, I want to lose FAT."

Sometimes I would be having so much fun, I would just keep on playin'.

"But why not? This is easy, fast and guaranteed - just what everyone wants these days, it's even better than taking a pill! Come on, let me hack it off! You'll be my next testimonial: 'I lost 20 pounds in 5 minutes!' Imagine what that will do for my business!"

"Very funny. I told you, I get it, I get it! I want to lose FAT, not muscles and bones. I need my leg!

Naturally, of course, I didn't always have to pull out my trusty blade. Every once in a while, about as often as a total solar eclipse, a client answers my question like this:

"What do I want? Tom, I want to lose 20 pounds of body fat in the next 12 weeks. I want to do it slowly, safely and healthfully and then keep it off permanently. I want all the "fat around my hips and thighs" completely gone and I want a firm flat stomach. I want muscle all over my body while still looking feminine. I'd like to see myself at about 16% body fat and maintain all my muscle or gain a few pounds of lean mass if I can, especially in my arms. This is important to me because I want to set a good example for my kids, I want to be healthy and live to at least 90 and I want my husband to look at me and say, "I love your body, honey," and I want to be able to *honestly* say back to him, "me too!"

It is on these rare occasions that I know there is still intelligent life on this planet.

If you could answer the question, "What do you want" with the degree of clarity that this woman did, I don't think you would ever have any difficulty reaching your health and fitness goals... or any other goal in your life, for that matter.

This answer is what you call a very "well-formed" goal, backed up with lots of emotional motivation-inducing "reasons why."

"I want to lose weight" is a poorly-formed goal.

"Weight" is not the same as "fat." Weight includes muscle, bone, internal organs as well as lots and lots of water.

If you only get ONE thing from this article, get this:

WHAT YOU REALLY WANT IS TO BURN THE FAT, WHILE KEEPING THE MUSCLE!!!!

FAT LOSS is what you want, not weight loss.

If your body was 100% rock-solid muscle, with absolutely nothing that jiggled (unless it was supposed to), would you care how much you weighed?

I bet you wouldn't!

SO STOP WORSHIPPING THE SCALE AND START MEASURING YOUR BODY COMPOSITION!

By measuring your body fat, you take the guesswork out of your health and fitness plan and you get an accurate picture of what's really happening in your body as a result of your diet and exercise program.

Instead of worrying about whether you are losing muscle, or wondering if you are losing fat, you can measure it and KNOW for sure. (I always get a good chuckle when someone tells me they're worried about losing muscle when they don't even measure how much muscle they have!)

Instead of being confused by all the "opinions" from weight loss and exercise "experts" who are all telling you something different, you can MEASURE your body composition and based on the results, you can KNOW for sure whether your program is working.

A very wise man once said,

"A single measurement is worth a thousand opinions."

So, how do you measure body fat?

There are many methods. Thanks to technology, there are some methods today that are so accurate, they can tell you whether your left pinky has more fat than your right pinky! Unfortunately, many of them are either too expensive or they are inaccessible, being found only in hospitals or research facilities. Instead of boring you with a lecture about all the various body fat testing methods, let me give you three quick and easy, practical suggestions:

Suggestion 1: Have a trainer or fitness professional measure your body fat if this service is available at your local health club. Sometimes, there's a charge - usually $15 - $25, although some clubs offer the service for free to all their members.

Suggestion 2: Purchase an Accu-measure skinfold caliper. The Accumeasure was designed to allow you to measure your own body fat in the privacy of your own home (you don't need someone else to measure you). Do a google or yahoo search to find a reseller.

Some people wonder if this is really accurate. Truth is, it's not quite as accurate as a multi site skinfold test from an experienced tester, but it's better than nothing. Besides, what's most important is not the "accuracy" per se, but the reliability and consistency of your measurements so you can track your progress. Skinfold calipers in general are not accurate or inaccurate, it's the person doing the test that is accurate or inaccurate.

Suggestion 3: If you have a spouse, roommate, or friend who can measure your body fat, you can purchase a "Slim Guide" body fat caliper. The Slimguide is the best inexpensive (about $20), caliper available for multi-site testing, but it wasn't designed for you to measure your own body fat like the Accu Measure. Other models of body fat calipers (if you want to splurge), range from $150 to $450. (At our health clubs, I use the electronic "SKYNDEX" caliper with the 4-site "Durnin formula.")

The calipers come with instructions, or you can use these formulas, which I have used and found to be very accurate:

4 Site formula for men (abdomen, suprailiac, thigh, tricep)

% fat = .29288(sum of 4 skinfolds) - 0.0005(sum of four skinfolds squared) + 0.15845(age) - 5.76377

4-Site Formula for women (abdomen, suprailiac, thigh, tricep)

% Fat = (.29669)(sum of 4 skinfolds) - (.00043)(Sum of four skinfolds squared) + .02963(age) + 1.4072

Source: Jackson A S, Pollock, M (1985) Practical assessment of body composition. Physician Sport Med. 13: 76-90.

Body fat percentages vary based on age and gender, but 20-25% body fat is average for women (15-19% is ideal), while 15-20% is average for men (10-14% is ideal).

Once you know your body fat percentage, then weigh yourself and record your weight and body fat on a progress chart. You can also calculate your lean body mass (muscle and other fat free tissue) very easily just by crunching some numbers:

For example, if you weigh 200 pounds and you have 10% body fat then you have 20 pounds of fat (10% of 200 = 20). That means you have a lean body mass (LBM) of 180 pounds. Now we're talking! With this data, you can get a really clear picture of how your exercise and nutrition program are affecting your physique.

Losing weight is very easy. Losing fat - and keeping it off without losing muscle - is a much bigger challenge. If you simply wanted to lose weight, we could just chop off your leg. Or, (slightly less painful), I could show you how to drop 10 - 15 pounds over the weekend just by dehydrating yourself and using natural herbal diuretics. Bodybuilders and wrestlers do it all the time to make a weight class. But what good would that do if it's almost all water and you're just going to gain it all back within days?

You don't have to "throw away your scale" like many "experts" tell you to. By all means, keep using the scale, the tape measure and even photographs and the mirror - the more feedback the better, but body fat is where it's at.

By the way, I recently bought a chain saw and a shiny new axe from Home Depot, and I've been practicing my "American Psycho" and Jack Nicholson, "The Shining" impersonations... so if you want to come to my office any time soon for personal consultation, you'd better have the right answer to my question, "What do you want?"

Author Bio
Tom Venuto is a certified personal trainer, natural bodybuilder and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle. You can get info on Tom's e-book at www.burnthefat.com. To get Tom's free monthly e-zine, visit http://www.fitren.com.

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Weightloss

How to Get Better Health in 10 Minutes a Day

Studies show that you do not need hours per week at a gym to benefit from exercise. Beginning consistent exercise with adequate rest between sessions can improve health most for those who were sedentary. Any suggested exercise should be confirmed and agreed with your medical doctor.

Steps

1. Do at least a little moderate exercise. This study suggests 70 minutes a week (10 minutes a day) of added exercise can lessen your dangers of blood, heart and arterial diseases and improve your quality of life.
2. Read how this works as explained by Dr. Tim Church, Pennington Research Center, Baton Rouge, La.; he said
   
   1. “Our bodies respond very positively to even small amounts of physical activity,”
   2. “For sedentary individuals, the immediate health benefits are huge. In fact, those who have been doing nothing stand to benefit the most from increasing physical activity in terms of dying prematurely.”
   3. Sedentary individuals (who seldom get exercise) may benefit by increasing daily exercise by several minutes.
3. Realize the regular recommendation is to gradually work up to 150 minutes a week (21+ minutes per day) of exercise — and this did not change, yet recent studies indicate that results are apparent in half that time.
   
   • Dr. Church also says of the study: “We saw a change in waist size, which is associated with the most dangerous form of abdominal fat, in just 70 minutes of moderate exercise, such as walking on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike.”
4. Avoid perfectionism, ie: all-or-nothing thinking:
   
   • like "I can’t run fast for 4 minutes, or jog for an hour, so why even try?" and
   • like you may underestimate the positive effects of less-intense exercise.
   • like equating weight loss with fitness and despair if the scale doesn’t change much.
5. Reshape your thinking and shape-up your health: as Dr. Church suggests that your walking a few minutes a day: “... will reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, anxiety, depression, diabetes, and many other conditions.”

10-minute jump-start!

1. Start with moderate exercise sessions of about 10 minute.
2. Don't give up! Some exercise is much better than none:
   
   • Short sessions of exercise can improve increased burning (metabolizing) of blood sugar for up to 72 hours.
3. Get this exercise for even more help for
   
   • diabetics, and other energy creation and usage problems,
   • circulatory, heart (cardiopulmonary) conditions and
   • for the elderly -- who usually slow down (ie: too much).
4. Consider the small lifestyle changes which are also easier to stick with, and that provide lasting benefits, by persistent determination to (continue) such sessions.
5. Try these ways to make this into a habit and increase your activity gradually.
6. Buy an inexpensive pedometer. Many Americans take only 5000 steps a day.
7. Increase walking to 7000 or 8000 steps per day to reduce the risk of disease.
8. Figure out how many steps you make a day and then aim to gradually add at least 1000 steps in a week (150 per day), add more until you reach your daily goal.
9. Make some changes like:
   
   1. Park farther away and walk from your parking place to shop at the store,
   2. Go to a zoo, recreation area or a park on weekends with your kids or grandkids --
      
      • instead of sitting in a movie
   3. Take a walk after breakfast or dinner. Some people walk in an air conditioned mall.
10. Find other great benefits that may be as profound as the physical ones. "It always amazes people to see how little activity it takes to feel better," Dr. Church says. And, be happier in as little as 10 minutes (today...).

New Habit, Interval Training to lose weight, get stamina

1. Lose weight possible much more quickly and get athletic stamina by interval training (this is not for building massive muscles)
   
   • Check with your doctor, and do this only as you have gotten into pretty good shape and have a healthy enough heart by following a fast walking program, etc.[2]. This is used by swimmers, track and cross country to get in greatest shape possible.
   • If you qualify, you will get into much better shape by doing interval training.
     
     • Later on after getting into shape with this interval program you can do 6 pack training, too.
2. Always, warm up first: for 5-10 minutes with a very fast walk or slow jog and learn to stretch -- Enjoy Yourself While Stretching.
3. Exercise is sprinting: all-out from 10 to 60 seconds to reach around 90% (85-95%) of your maximum safe heart rate, weight and overall conditioning.
   
   • Exercise for a very short time intervals of high speed effort and then an equally short rest interval: "on" and "off".
4. Rest to lower your heart's pulse rate to nearly normal. Repeat the effort and rest.
5. Rest by walking slowly, some stretching and other low impact movements to stay warm.
6. Rest for 1 to 2 minutes to recover to a moderate heart rate. Then go again.
7. Exertion is to stay at that 90% level for only 10 to 20 seconds.
8. Calculate Your Target Heart Rate for your fitness level. If your fitness is not good keep the highest effort down to just 10 seconds until you get a better tone, including better breath and lower your high blood by this cardiovascular conditioning.
9. Push only hard enough -- but only for your 90% heart rate for that 10 to 20 seconds. Do not maintain your high-intensity interval longer (even for the most highly trained athletes, only slightly longer for the desired result).
10. Repeat these intervals for 10 to 20 minutes at first (and increase it to only 20 minutes when you can do without fatigue): so that is 10 to 20 minutes depending on your heart rate and body fitness level.
11. Build six pack abs: by changing to abdominal training when you have slimmed down and are in good cardio shape by doing your intervals. Now it will be "abdominal intervals".

Tips

• Suggested exercises should be confirmed and agreed with your medical doctor.
• Reshape thinking to realize that it's "not-all-or-nothing" and it's not running or jogging that is necessary to begin helping your health.

Warnings

• Merely walking a few minutes a day may not cause your weight to drop substantially without changing eating habits, but you may reduce risks of cardiovascular disease by walking, and see how it helps with anxiety, depression, diabetes, and many other conditions.Weight loss deals mainly with diet changing, ie, eating more fruits and less junk food. Remember: "What goes in, goes out.". You should control your food intake in order to lose weight.

Sources and Citations

• Emily Listfield, Parade Magazine, 08-09-2009

1. ↑ http://www.parade.com/health/2009/08/09-ten-minutes-to-better-health.html
2. ↑ Wikipedia Interval Training

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Get Better Health in 10 Minutes a Day. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Welcome to the weight loss blog from Tim Turner.

You will find much weight loss and dieting information that will guide your steps on the way in losing weight!
Here are some healthy tips and free help and advice to help you loose weight fast in a healthy and natural way.

It's Time To Start Your Diet Today!






How to Really Make Your Diet Work For You By: Stanislav Karpunin

First of all, you need to understand, that your body needs a proper Balanced Nutrition Diet, with a proper daily amount of: vitamins, proteins, minerals and carbohydrates.


Get into a habit of eating exactly 3 Meals a day.

1. Eat breakfast within one hour of starting.
Have a well balance breakfast that provides at least 30 percent of the total power pack energy and nutrition needed to sustain the human body during the whole day. Thats why it is very important to have a proper breakfast and do not plan to skip it.

2. Have a healthy low-fat lunch snack.
Have a healthy snack in your lunch time, low fat yogurt for example, to keep your energy running.

3. Have your dinner three hours before your bedtime.
Have a Proper dinner three hours before your bedtime; never go to bed on a full stomach.

Drink at least 2 liters of water a day. 2 liters of water a day would help your body to burn calories more effectively and to get rid of toxins.

Exercising is a "KEY".
By exercising, it gives your body the an advantage of many healthy- physiological benefits such as:


Elevating your metabolism for weight control by so that you burn more calories.
The Boost in your energy level
Strengthening of your heart and lungs
Improvement in your self-image and self-confidence.


So, don't forget to exercise at least 10 minutes a day.

Try to avoid using fats. Try to keep the fat level in your cooking as low as possible.

Make Calcium your friend. Include as much calcium as you can in your daily diet by eating:


Oranges
Broccoli
Mango
Soybeans
Tofu
Sunflower Seeds
Papaya


And other sources of calcium. Calcium is a crucial element for bone metabolism. Calcium deficiency is very common. The so called "Average" American diets  do not even come close to remotely meeting the normal calcium requirements for daily intake:

425 mg. a day for Men


450 mg. a day for Women


So, to sum it up:
1. Have exactly 3 meals a day
2. Drink at least 2 liters of water a day
3. Exercise at least 10 minutes a day
4. Avoid fats
5. Make calcium your friend

By following 5 simple rules, you can be losing weight in no time.

Author Bio
The WellnessWorx.net markets only quality, weight-management, nutrition and personal health care products created by WellnessPro leading industry experts. Weight-loss can be a pleasure!


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