The following article is a small excerpt from one of my books.I hope you’ll want to learn more and let me help you to get into the best shape of your life.

Whether you want to lose 5 pounds or 50, the following tips will help you to achieve your weight loss goals a little easier. Here are some practical and effective methods to rev your metabolism, burn fat, and when you burn fat you will begin to see your belly flatten.

The following tips are simple, but the effects will add up. When you successfully implement one change, you’re more likely to do another. The more you’re able to stick to your goal, the greater your confidence, and the more chance you’ll have to start and accomplish new goals. These small changes can add up to a lifestyle change and helping you to become the best you can be.

Hit the gas early during your workout.  Men who started a 30 minute running workout at high speed, working at 70% of their VO2 max, and then eased up to 50% of VO2 max burned 5 to 10% more fat than those who started slow and then revved up the pace. The after burn of the high intensity workout seems to carry over into the lower intensity period, increasing overall fat burn.

Use public transportation. Taking the bus or train is as good for your body as it is for your wallet and the environment. Researchers found that people who switched from driving everywhere to using a light rail system lost an average of about 6 pounds in a year.  The theory is that by walking the extra blocks it takes to get to and from bus stops and train stations, you naturally increase your activity level enough to result in weight loss.

Drink two cups of coffee, black. A study found that drinking two cups of caffeinated coffee can boost your metabolism by 16% compared with the decaf kind. Make sure to drink it black though. The 67 calories in a spoonful of sugar and a tablespoon of cream can negate caffeine’s calorie burning benefits.

Blot your pizza with a napkin. You’ll dab off about 4.5 g of fat or close to 30 calories per slice. Of course, depending on the pizza and your toppings, the amount of excess oil you can remove varies.

Avoid Alcohol. A study found that drinking as little as 1 ounce of vodka can slow your metabolism by as much as 73%.

Douse your food in Tabasco. Capsaicin is the spicy compound found in the white membrane of chili peppers and has been shown to rev up your metabolism and can burn somewhere near an extra 50 calories. Eating salsa may boost fat burn a little bit, but don’t pile on the chips and guacamole. You still need to watch out for overall calorie intake.

Fuel up on fiber. In addition to making you feel full, longer and therefore helping you eat less, fiber can help you burn through as much as 30% more calories. Fiber has roughage, and roughage takes a longer time for your body to break down and requires more energy to digest.

Sleep more. Dieters who logged 8.5 hours of sleep burned more fat than those who slept 5.5 hours. While both groups lost a similar amount of weight, the people who got a full night’s rest dropped the majority of their weight from fat while those who slept less lost most of theirs from muscle.

Increase physical activity outside of the gym. In a recent study, overweight women completed the same 150-minute-a-week program, and while some women lost up to 7 pounds of body fat, others gained up to 5. The researchers think that the women who lost the most were the ones who maintained or increased their physical activity beyond the gym; those who gained weight had cut back on their everyday activity.  If you’re going to the gym, you don’t want to negate it by eating a lot afterward or to stop taking the stairs.  You have to live the same life, if not improve on it, when you begin to exercise.

Eat breakfast. If you eat breakfast daily you may boost your metabolisms by as much as 10 %.

Pump iron. Lifting weights can help you burn a few more calories even after you finish your workout. An hour-long strength-training program burned 100 more calories in the next 24 hours than when you don’t use weights.

Choose tuna swimming in water. Stick to tuna packed in water not oil. Three ounces of water packed tuna contains 109 calories and 2.5 g of fat compared with 158 calories and 6.9 g of fat in the oil soaked kind. Tuna is a good protein source that’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which can help reduce your risk of heart disease and help prevent depression.

Drink chocolate milk. Researchers compared the effects of drinking low-fat chocolate milk, fat-free soy protein drink, and a traditional carbohydrate recovery drink after exercise. Not only did the milk drinkers gain more muscle than those who drank the soy and carbohydrate beverages, but they also lost twice as much fat.

Drink cold water. Your metabolism can increase by as much as 30% during the 10 minutes after you drink a cold glass of water. Why?  Your body burns more calories as it tries to warm the water.

Brew a cup of green tea. A 2010 study found that after 3 months, people who drank two glasses of decaf green tea a day lost 2.6 more pounds than those who drank a herbal brew. Researchers believe that catechin compounds in green tea may prevent fat formation and stimulate your metabolism.

Say yes to yogurt. Eating yogurt as part of a low-calorie diet may help burn more fat. People who eat three 1-cup servings a day lost 22% more weight and 61% more fat than those who dieted without including yogurt. Even better, most of the fat lost was from the belly.

Eat an orange. People who don’t get enough vitamin C burn 25% less fat when working out than those who have adequate levels.  People who are vitamin-C deficient can quadruple their fat burn after taking 500 mg of Vitamin C.

Do intervals. You’ve probably already heard it, but doing interval training, alternating between periods of intense exercise and recovery, burns more fat and calories than exercising at a steady rate. Cyclists who switched between exercising for 4 minutes at 90% of their max and than 2 minutes of recovery for an hour burn up to 36% more calories after their workout, than those who biked at a moderate pace for the same amount of time.

Go organic. People with the highest levels of organochlorides, a chemical found in pesticides, are more likely to have slower metabolisms.

Munch on almonds. Spanish researchers found that people who eat a diet high in MUFAs(monounsaturated fats)  lose more fat from their stomachs than people who follow a high-carb diet or a high-fat one.

Outsmart the elliptical trainer. The calorie-count mechanisms on cardio equipment are often off by 20 to 30%. So if the readout says that you’ve cranked out 260 calories’ worth of exercise, a more accurate estimate could be 200 calories burned. To even things out, aim to burn off 30% more than your target. Even if your machine’s calorie tally is accurate, ramping up your workout will help you achieve your weight loss goal.

Pick a smarter spread. Rather than smear on a tablespoon of butter over your morning toast (102 calories, 11.5 g of fat), try apple butter (20 calories, 0 g fat). It tastes delicious and packs a fraction of the fat and calories.

Choose Canadian bacon. You can get a heftier portion of the leaner meat and still cut fat. Two slices of Canadian bacon are 89 calories, 4 g of fat (57 g); two slices of the regular kind contain 86 calories and 6 g of fat (16 g).

Try Meatless Monday. Vegetarians usually have a lower body mass index than those who eat meat. For instance, lacto-ovo vegetarians (doesn’t eat meat but eats dairy and eggs) have an average BMI of 25.7, where as meat eaters check in at a BMI of 28.8. Not ready to forgo meat entirely? Incorporate Meatless Monday into your eating routine. You’ll still be able to reap the benefits as vegetarian diets tend to be lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, and higher in fiber, potassium, and antioxidants than other diets.

See the sun. People with higher levels of vitamin D were able to lose more weight on a reduced-calorie diet than those who had inadequate levels, even though both cut 750 calories from their diets. Your body generates vitamin D naturally through sunlight, and it’s also found in foods like salmon, tuna, fortified milk, cereals and yogurt.

Broaden your circle of friends. Having a lot of friends might not just help you live longer it may make you leaner, too. Having a more active social life can turn regular white fat into calorie-burning brown fat, increasing your overall calorie burn. Researchers found that when lab rats were placed in a living environment with 15 to 20 other mice and had greater opportunity to play, they lost weight due to increased brown fat stores.

Have half a grapefruit. There’s no need to go on an all grapefruit diet, but incorporating the fruit into your diet can help you lose weight.  People who ate half a grapefruit before every meal lost 3 pounds more than those who didn’t. Why? Not only is grapefruit a good source of fiber, but it also seems to help regulate insulin levels.

Sweeten with cinnamon. The spice can increase the rate at which sugar is metabolized by 20 fold. Eating 1/4 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of cinnamon a day has also been shown to lower blood sugar levels. The spice is also a great low-calorie alternative to sugar to sweeten your coffee.

Clean your house. A tidy home may translate to a fit body. How clean a house is or isn’t, is a better indicator of the occupant’s fitness level than the home’s proximity to safe walking trails and sidewalks.

Avoid boxed baked goods. Store-bought cookies, cakes, and mixes are often loaded with saturated fat. A serving of coffee cake is loaded with 260 calories and 13 g of fat, 4 of which are saturated. Make your own dessert at home for 172 calories, 3.4 g of fat and 0.6 g of saturated fat.

Switch to sorbet. A 1/2-cup serving of chocolate sorbet has half the calories and a whopping 16 grams fewer fat than a serving of chocolate ice cream.

Slurp broth-based soups. A bowl of creamy New England clam chowder contains 154 calories and 5 g of fat. Switch to the broth-based Manhattan clam chowder at 73 calories and 2 g of fat per cup. People who had a cup of soup before lunch ate 20% fewer calories at the meal. When you choose a low-cal soup to fill up on beforehand, you can actually consume fewer calories overall.

Cut the can. Fresh is better than canned.  People who ate canned soup for 5 days in a row had BPA levels in their blood that were 10 times higher than those who ate homemade soup for the same amount of time. Elevated levels of BPA, a chemical- and hormone disruptor that’s found in plastics and plastic-lined cans, has been shown to increase the number and size of fat cells.

Skip fried food. Deep-frying adds tons of fat and calories. Make this fast-food swap: Instead of a Chipotle BBQ Snack Wrap (Crispy) try the grilled version. You’ll save 80 calories and 7 g of fat.

Pop smarter. Popcorn is a great whole grain snack, but don’t pour on the butter. Three cups of Butter popcorn will set you back 154 calories and 12 g of fat. Choose the Smart Pop version and snack without guilt for 48 calories and 1 g of fat.

Take a fish oil supplement. People who took 6 g of fish oil a day and exercised three times a week lost 3.4 pounds more in 12 weeks than those who just hit the gym and didn’t take a supplement.

Max out. Stoke up your after-burn by lifting heavy. Women burned twice as many calories the 2 hours following a workout that involved doing 8 reps of lifting 85% of their max as when they did 15 reps at 45% of their max. Your max refers to the maximum amount of weight that you can lift in a single rep of an exercise. To estimate your one-rep max, determine the greatest amount of weight you are able to perform an exercise to exhaustion. Plug in the weight and number of reps into this formula: Weight × [1 + (0.033 × number of repetitions)] or use an online calculator. Then multiply by 0.85 or 0.45.

Load up on lobster. Arginine, an amino acid found in lobster, nuts, seeds, and watermelon may help you burn more fat. Researchers followed two groups of people on a diet and exercise program. One group received an 8.3 g arginine supplement daily. While both groups lost about 7 pounds in 21 days, those who took the arginine supplement lost only fat, while 57% of the weight loss of the control group was from muscle.

Eat lean protein. Your body burns through more calories when digesting high protein foods as compared with fatty or carb heavy fare. Your metabolism can increase by as much as 35% after eating protein.

Eat more eggs.  High-quality protein, such as eggs are considered a perfect protein and can help older adults build and maintain muscle. Because muscle burns about 50 calories more per pound than fat, you won’t just be stronger you’ll burn through more calories on a daily basis.

Go skinless. Take off the skin from half a roasted chicken breast and save about 50 calories and 2.5 g of fat.

Ask for your dressing on the side. A shot glass sized serving of creamy Ranch dressing contains 140 calories and 14 g of fat, but it’s easy to pour much more than that on your salad.

Corn over flour.  Choose a corn tortilla. While they have the same amount of fiber (1 g), a 6-inch corn wrap contains 40 calories and 0.5 g of fat and the same size flour tortilla has 110 calories and 2.5 g of fat. Flour tortillas have more protein (3 g versus 1 g), but also 64 times as much sodium.

Channel Popeye. Spinach is loaded with iron, a mineral your body needs to bring oxygen to your muscles to burn fat. When your body has low levels, your metabolism can slow down. Other good sources of iron include beans, lean protein, and fortified cereals.

Eat whole grains. People who ate muesli with milk, peaches, yogurt, and apple juice burned almost twice as much fat during an hour-long walk than on the days that they ate cornflakes with milk, white bread, and an energy drink. Why? The first breakfast ranks much lower on the glycemic index than the second, and researchers think that the spike in insulin levels that occurs when the body digests simple carbs may interfere with your body’s ability to burn fat.

Eat at least 1,200 calories a day. Your metabolism slows down when it doesn’t have enough fuel, so going on a crash diet can actually reduce the rate at which your body burns fat. If you eat fewer than 1,200 calories a day, you can’t meet your nutritional needs for enough protein, healthy fat, and vitamins for your body to run properly, she adds.

Snack in the afternoon. Afternoon and evening snackers may lose more weight than those who eat in the morning.   Researchers followed the snacking patterns of dieters and found that those who snacked in the morning lost 7% of their body weight after a year, while those who ate a treat later in the day or not at all lost 11% of their weight. Not only are morning snackers more likely than afternoon snackers to snack more than once a day, afternoon snackers tend to choose healthier foods to munch on, such as fruit and veggies.

Choose the smarter topping. Eating two slices of ham pizza will save you 80 calories and 4 g of fat over two slices of pepperoni.

Stand up. The simple act of standing engages muscles in your legs, abs, and back and when your muscles are activated, they release myokines, hormones that stimulate metabolism.  The reverse also seems true. When you don’t move like sitting in front of a computer or television your metabolism slows.

Don’t serve meals family-style. Heaping platters of home cooked foods might be a staple at your family’s dinner table, but keeping those dishes at the table can increase your likelihood of overeating.  When serving platters were out of sight, diners ate 20 to 29% less than when second helpings were within arm’s reach.

Just add ginger. Like cinnamon, black pepper, and red pepper, spicing your food with ginger may prevent weight gain. Researchers found that mice fed a ginger supplement while on a high fat diet gained less weight than those on the same meal plan but without the supplements.

I know you want to get in shape and look great.  Whatever your fitness goal…to slim down…gain muscle…tone your arms or flatten your tummy…I’m here to help you accomplish your goals and to improve your fitness level. If you have enjoyed this article and the many other free features on my site, and would like some more comprehensive information such as fitness books and CD’s to aid you in achieving your health and fitness goals, please visit my ONLINE STORE where you will find innovative natural health and beauty products to help you become the BEST YOU CAN BE !

I hope you’ll want to learn more and let me help you to get into the best shape of your life.

Summer may be a time to wiggle your toes and run barefoot on the beach but more than half of American men and women say they regularly experience foot pain that interferes with their daily activities. Women seem to be more prone to foot problems and 84% have reported that they’ve experienced some sort of foot ailment. Here are some of the most common problems and the treatments for them which may help you to ‘get back on your feet.’

BUNIONS

Bunions are a bump that develops toward the base of your big toe, and can become swollen and painful. Bunions often are hereditary but also can be caused by faulty foot biomechanics and arthritis.

To avoid bunions, stay away from pointy, narrow shoes. Try to wear shoes with a wide toe box and good support, such as sneakers. Custom orthotics (inserts that fit into a shoe to hold your foot in the correct position) also may slow the development of a bunion.

Treatments: Padding or taping the affected foot can relieve bunion pain, and so can orthotics, anti-inflammatory medications, or steroid injections. In severe cases, surgery may be an option.

HEEL PAIN

Heel pain is most commonly caused by plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the long band of connective tissue that runs from the heel to the ball of your foot. The bottom of the heel and arch of the foot can become very painful, especially with the first step in the morning or after resting and then getting up. Common causes are excessive running, jumping, or any other activity that stresses the tissues of the feet, obesity, and high or low arched feet. Pain also may be caused by a stress fracture of your heel.

To help avoid heel pain, begin your exercise program gradually and wear supportive shoes.

Treatments: Stretch before exercising. If you experience heel pain, follow the RICE principle; rest, ice, compression, and elevation. If this doesn’t help, your doctor may recommend orthotic devices, steroid injections, anti-inflammatory medications, or surgery.

TOENAIL PROBLEMS

About 18% of Americans suffer from onychomycosis, a fungal infection of your toenail. Nails can become thick, discolored, loose, brittle, and painful. Feet exposed to a warm, dark, moist environment can get infected, but some people may be genetically predisposed to fungal nails. For those who are susceptible, the condition is highly contagious.

To avoid keep your feet clean and dry, washing them at least once a day and drying the toes well. Make sure your shoes and socks stay dry, and change them daily. Wear socks that are either a natural/synthetic blend or wicking acrylic, which prevents moisture from becoming trapped against your skin.

Treatments: A podiatrist may remove the infected nail, painlessly removing it if necessary, and prescribes medication.

HAMMERTOES

With its distinctive profile a bending at the first joint causes the toe to look like an upside down “V” when viewed from the side.  A hammertoe commonly is caused by increased tightening of your tendons and ligaments of your foot. This may lead to arthritic changes in your bone and joint that can become permanent and painful over time. Some people have a hereditary tendency to develop hammertoes, but they also may arise from a biomechanical deformity, such as a bunion. Hammertoes also are a symptom of rheumatoid arthritis.

Avoid wearing shoes that are too tight or narrow in the toe, as well as heels higher than 2 inches, which put pressure on the front of your foot.

Treatments: Non medicated hammertoe pads, available over the counter, will decrease pressure on the affected area. If pain persists, your doctor may provide special padding, orthotics, or custom shoes. Surgery is also an option.

CORNS AND CALLUSES

Many people have protective layers of compacted, dead skin cells that gather on bony areas of your foot. Corns are smaller and typically found over joints, while calluses develop on weight-bearing areas. Both are caused by friction and unnatural pressures.

To avoid you should wear shoes that give your toes enough room to move while supporting your foot without sliding or rubbing.

Treatments: Over-the-counter protective pads will cushion the areas often rubbed by your footwear. Be careful of using products called “corn or callus removers” because they may contain harsh ingredients that can cause a chemical burn. Your doctor can shave the corn or callus if it is necessary. In some cases, surgery is recommended to remove the deformity that is causing the problem.

IT STARTS WITH YOUR SHOES

Wearing the right shoes can prevent many of these foot ailments from developing.

1. Make sure your shoes fit. Get your feet measured once a year. Your shoe size changes with your age and hormone fluctuations. Remember to go shoe shopping at the end of the day, when your feet are at their largest.
2. Make sure there’s enough space in the toe so your toes have room to move.
3. Shoes that are too narrow or too wide may cause sliding and rubbing that could lead to blisters and calluses.
4. Avoid heels higher than 2 inches. High heels increase pressure on the front of your foot.

I know you want to get in shape and look great.  Whatever your fitness goal…to slim down…gain muscle…tone your arms or flatten your tummy…I’m here to help you accomplish your goals and to improve your fitness level. If you have enjoyed this article and the many other free features on my site, and would like some more comprehensive information such as fitness books and CD’s to aid you in achieving your health and fitness goals, please visit myONLINE STORE where you will find innovative natural health and beauty products to help you become the BEST YOU CAN BE !