1.
Drink plenty of water. Our body needs a lot of water so give in to water. Water is not just way
to flush out toxin but if you have more water in your body you will generally feel healthier
and fitter. This it self will discourage any tendency to gorge. The best thing about water is
that is has no calories at all.
2.
Start your day with a glass of water. As soon as you wake up, gulp down a glass of cool
water. It’s a wonderful way to start you day and you only need a lesser quantity of your
breakfast drink after that. A glass of water lets out all your digestive juices and sort of
lubricates the insides of your body. You may have your morning cup of tea but have it after a
glass of water. It is good for you.
3.
Drink a glass of water before you start the meal. Water naturally needs some space so that
you feel fuller without actually having to stuff yourself.
4.
Have another glass of water while you are having the meal. Again this is another way of
making yourself full so that you can actually rise from the table eating less but feeling full just
the same. Instead of drinking it one gulp, take sips after each morsel. It will help the food to
settle faster so that you get that feeling that you are full faster.
SIDENOTE: Water is such a remarkable thing, but seldom do we give it the
credit that it deserves. Did you know that over 66% of your body weight is
nothing but water? It’s amazing!
Water also plays a vital role in weight control, which is why I donated so
much space to it, above.
5.
Stay away from sweetened bottle drinks, especially sodas. Hey all those colas and fizzy drinks
are sweetened with sugar and sugar means calories. The more you can cut out on these
sweetened bottle drinks, the better for you. So if you must drink sodas, then stick to diet
sodas.
6.
Include in your diet things that contain more water like tomatoes and watermelons. These
things contain 90 to 95 % water so that there is nothing that you have to lose by feasting on
them. They fill you up without adding to the pounds.
7.
Eat fresh fruit instead of drinking fruit juice. Juice is often sweetened but fresh fruits have
natural sugars. When you eat fruit, you are taking in a lot of fiber, which is needed by the
body, and fruits of course are an excellent source of vitamins.
8.
If you do have a craving for fruit juice then go for fresh fruit juice instead of these that
contain artificial flavors and colors. Or even better, try making your own fruit juice taking care
not to sweeten it with too many calories.
9.
Choose fresh fruit to processed fruits. Processed and canned fruits do not have as much fiber
as fresh fruit and processed and canned fruits are nearly always sweetened.
10.
Increase your fiber intake. Like I mentioned, the body needs a lot of fiber. So try to include in
your diet as many fruits and vegetables as you can.
11.
Go crazy on vegetables. Vegetables are your best bet when it comes to losing pounds. Nature
has a terrific spread when it comes to choosing vegetables. And the leafy green vegetables
are your best bet. Try to include a salad in you diet always.
12.
Eat intelligently. The difference between man and beast is that we are driven by intelligence
while beasts are driven by instinct. Don’t just eat something because you feel like eating it.
Ask your self whether your body really needs it.
13.
Watch what you eat. Keep a watchful eye on every thing that goes in. Sometimes the
garnishes can richer than the food itself. Accompaniments too can be very rich. Remember
that it is the easiest thing in the world to eat something without realizing that it was
something that you should not have eaten. Selective memory you know…
14.
Control that sweet tooth. Remember that sweet things generally mean more calories. It is
natural that we have cravings for sweet things especially chocolates and other confectionary.
Go easy on theses things and each time you consume something sweet understand that it is
going to add on somewhere.
15.
Fix times to have meals and stick to it. Try to have food at fixed times of the day. You can
stretch these times by half an hour, but anything more than that is going to affect your eating
pattern, the result will either be a loss of appetite or that famished feeling which will make
you stuff yourself with more than what is required the next time you eat.
16.
Eat only when you are hungry. Some of us have the tendency to eat whenever we see food.
We use parties as an excuse to stuff our selves. Understand that the effect of a whole week of
dieting can be wasted by just one day’s party food. Whenever you are offered something to
eat do not decline it completely bit just break of a nibble so that you appear to mind your
manners and at the same time can watch your diet.
17.
Quit snacking in between meals. Do not fall for snacks in between meals. This is especially
true for those who have to travel a lot. They feel that the only time they can get a bite to eat
is snacks and junk food. The main problem with most snacks and junk food is that they are
usually less filling and contain a lot of fat and calories. Just think about French fries…tempting
but terribly fattening.
18.
Snack on vegetables if you must. You might get the pangs of hunger in between meals. It is
something that you can very well control. Or even better, try munching on carrots. They are
an excellent way to satisfy those hungry pangs and are good for your eyes and teeth. True,
you might end up being called Bugs Bunny, but its miles better to be called Bugs Bunny than
fatso.
19.
Go easy on tea and coffee. Tea and coffee are harmless by themselves. It’s when you add the
cream and sugar that they become fattening. Did you know that having a cup of tea or coffee
that has cream and at least two cubes of sugar is as bad as having a big piece of rich
chocolate cake?
20.
Try to stick to black tea/coffee. Black tea or coffee can actually be good for you. But
personally I would like to recommend tea rather than coffee. The caffeine in the coffee is not
really good for you because it is an alkaloid and can affect other functions of your body like
the metabolism.
21.
Count the calories as you eat. It’s a good idea to have an idea of the calories that most food
items have. If it is a packed thing then the label is sure to have the calories that the
substance has.
22.
Be sure to burn out those extra calories by the end of the week. If you feel that you have
consumed more calories than you should have during the week, it happens you know, and
then make sure that you work off those extra calories by the end of the week.
23.
Stay away from fried things. Fried things are an absolute no-no. The more fried things that
you avoid, the lesser weight you will gain. Fried things are called so because they are fried in
oil or fat. And even if the external oil is drained away, there is still a lot of hidden oil in it so
stay away from it.
24.
Do not skip meals. The worst thing you can do while watching you diet is skip a meal. It has
just the opposite effect of what you want. You need to have at least four regular meals every
day.
25.
Fresh vegetables are better than cooked or canned vegetables. Try to eat your vegetables
raw. When you cook them, you are in fact taking away nearly half the vitamins in them. And
canned vegetables too are processed and are not nearly half as good as fresh vegetables.
When you buy your vegetables it would be a good thing to see if the label says that it is
pesticide free.
26.
Nothing more than an egg a day. Eggs are not such a bright idea. It would be best to reduce
your intake of eggs to maybe three in a week. But for those of you die hard egg fans, you
may have up to one egg a day but nothing more than that.
27.
Make chocolates a luxury and not a routine. Chocolates are not or at least they should not be
a part of your diet. So do not indulge too much in them. Even the bitter chocolates are not
good for you because though the sugar is less there is still the cream in them.
28.
Choose a variety of foods from all food groups every day. This is a fine way of keeping
deficiency diseases at bay. Change the items included in your diet every day. This is an
excellent way of keeping deficiency diseases at bay and it helps you to experiment with a
variety of dishes and there by you do not get bored of your diet.
29.
If you can say no to alcoholic beverages please do. Alcoholic beverages too are not good for
you. Beer can be fattening and the rest of the alcoholic drinks may not be fattening by
themselves but after a couple of swigs you will be in no position to watch your diet and your
appetite too will be something to battle with.
30.
Try to have breakfast within one hour of waking. It’s always best to have breakfast within an
hour of waking so that your body can charge itself with the energy it needs for the day. The
idea is not to wait for your self to get really hungry. Breakfast is the most important meal of
the day but that does not mean that it should be the most filling meal of the day.
31.
50 to 55% of your diet should be carbohydrates. It is a myth that you should try and avoid
carbohydrates when you are on a diet. Rather the other way round I should say.
Carbohydrates are a ready source of energy and so 50 to 55% of your diet should be
carbohydrates.
32.
25 to 30% of your diet should be proteins. Various processes and activities are going on in
our bodies. Things are broken down and being built up again. Resistance has to be built up,
recovery from disease too is needed and for all this the body needs plenty of proteins so see
to it that 25 to 30 % of your diet consists of proteins.
33.
Fats should only be 15 to 20 %. You need only this much of fat in your diet so keep it at that.
34.
Try and adopt a vegetarian diet. A vegetarian diet is undoubtedly better for those of us
watching our diet. There are a lot of advantages of keeping to a vegetarian diet but I don’t
want to sing an ode to vegetarianism now. What I would suggest is keep to a vegetarian diet
as much as you can. Make a non- vegetarian diet a week end event or something if you find it
impossible to give up eating all those animals.
35.
Choose white meat rather than red. White meat, which includes fish and fowl, is miles better
than red meat, which includes beef and pork for those trying to lose weight.
36.
High Fiber multigrain breads are better than white breads. Remember how I told you to
increase the fiber content in your food; well this is the answer to that. It is not only better in
terms of the fiber content but also in terms of the protein content as well.
37.
Reduce your intake of pork. Pork is not something that can help you to lose weight. So the
lesser pork you eat the better chances you have of losing weight. And remember that pork
includes the pork products as well, things like bacon, ham and sausages.
38.
Limit your sugar intake. If you can’t have things unsweetened go for sugar substitutes. These
things are just as sweetening but are certainly not fattening.
39.
Graze 5 to 6 times a day. Instead of sticking to just three meals a day, try grazing. Grazing
means try having 5 or 6 smaller meals instead of three king sized meals. It is an excellent
way of having smaller quantities of food.
40.
Go ahead eat cheat food, but only for flavor. There are many things which you have to avoid
from your diet but which you may have an undying craving for. Do not avoid them altogether.
You could call them cheat foods and indulge in them once in a while. But take care just to
tingle your taste buds, don’t hog on them. Instead of that share them with others. In this way
41.
Watch your fat intake. Each fat gram contains 9 calories so by reading the total calories on a
food and knowing the quantity of fat, you can estimate the % of fat, which should in no way
exceed 30% of the food.
42.
Go easy on salt, as too much salt is one of the causes of obesity. Make it a point to really cut
down on salt. Try to bring down your salt intake to half of what it was last year.
43.
Change from table butter to cholesterol free butter. If you have a choice why not g for it, any
way it is healthier for you and tastes just the same. Bear in mind that these small changes
can go a long way towards weight reduction.
44.
Instead of frying things try baking them without fat. Baking is by far a healthier method of
preparing food than frying. Baking requires lesser oil or fat.
45.
Use a non stick frying pan for your cooking so that you do not have to add oil. The golden
rule is to try and avoid as much oil as possible and a non stick pan is the perfect solution to
this problem.
46.
Boil your vegetables instead of cooking them, or even better, eat them fresh. However if you
do not like eating your vegetables as it is, try steaming them without adding anything at all.
This is probably the healthiest way to eat cabbages, cauliflowers and a host of other
vegetables.
47.
Carry parsley with you. Parsley is an excellent thing to munch on in between meals. Not just
is it good for you in terms of vitamins, but it is also a perfect way of making your breath
fresher.
48.
Choose low fat substitutes or no fat substitutes. There are plenty of low fat or even no fat
substitutes available in the market so why not choose wisely. It is much better for you heart
too. Many people just go for shopping and pick up whatever they can. They do not bother to
find out if there are nay substitutes for the thing they are looking for.
In the markets of today, you will be astounded at the range of goods that manufactures have
to offer. In fact with all the hue and cry that is being made about weight loss, low fat
substitutes and no fat substitutes are hitting the stands faster than mushrooms that sprout
after the first rains.
So the next time you head for the stores instead of picking up what you have always picked
up, see if there are better substitutes.
Remember that our bodies need nutrients and not just calories. Fats give us nutrients but
with more calories than what proteins or carbohydrates do.
49.
Avoid crash diets. They are bad for health and you will gain what you have lost once you take
a break. Crash diets are not a solution to weight loss. It might seem as if you have lost few
pounds but the moment you give up on the crash diet every thing will bounce back with a
vengeance.
Take a look at it in this way. Do you think that it is possible for a person to survive on a crash
diet for the rest of his or her life? Certainly not! So at some time or the other, you will have
to give up the crash diet and then you will see for yourself that a crash diet does more harm
than good on the long run.
Crash diets may have a lot to promise, but very rarely do these promises ring true. Crash
diets are things people go on in order to wear an old dress or suit for a particular occasion.
That’s the only purpose that they serve as far as I can see.
50.
God gave us teeth for a reason...
Therefore we should develop a habit of chewing all food including liquid food and soft foods
like sweets, ice creams at least 8 to 12 times. This is essential to add saliva to the food, as it
is only in the saliva that sugar is digested.
Often we find that whatever goes into our mouth goes down like lightning. We hardly give the
saliva any time to act on the food. So does digestion take place like it should? Do we just
stuff our tummies with food that doesn’t get digested or in other words that doesn’t yield the
benefits that it should?
51.
Dry wine is better than sweet wine. Sweet wines naturally contain a lot of sugar. But on the
other hand, in dry wines most of this sugar has been fermented away so from the weight
point of view dry wines are better than sweet wines.
52.
When you decide it’s time to start working out, start slowly and don’t get discouraged if you
don’t achieve your fitness goals after the first week. Many people make this mistake. They
feel that if they really push their bodies they can lose more weight in a couple of work outs.
This is a very serious thing in fact.
If you try to push your body too much in the first few goes, you are likely to end up with
sprained joints, a sore back and even torn ligaments. The rule to be followed here is slow and
steady wins the race.
53.
Check your weight before you start the routine and keep checking for changes but do not
expect a radical change immediately, it might be one or two weeks before you notice some
change. However it is crucial that you continue to monitor your weight. You may bear in mind
the fact that even a few pounds loss is a big achievement.
54.
When you do notice a change, reward yourself. When I say reward I do not mean go for some
goodies like chocolates or sweets. Maybe you could go for a movie or buy yourself something
like a new dress or a trinket.
This is something that can keep you going. It is a good idea to save on the money that you
wanted to spend on ice creams and chocolates and then treat your self to something more
substantial.
55.
You can take a day off from exercise every week. This is not just a very good idea but it is
part of the exercise routine. Your body needs a day off from an exercise routine so do not
hesitate to take a day off from what ever you have been doing.
56.
Exercise out doors as far as possible. There are two advantages of doing whatever you are
doing out side. One advantage is that it gives your body a chance to get a lot of the much
needed fresh air and sunshine.
The second advantage is that the surroundings keep you perked up and it is a break form
remaining cooped up all day long
57.
Try to collect some information about exercise, there are a lot of things that you can do at
home. Extensive research has been done on exercise and plenty of this information is easily
available.
You can try browsing the net or getting a book or two on how to exercise at home. This
information will be useful to you to know how much you need to work out on each specific
exercise in order to burn off the desired number of calories.
58.
Try to get somebody to exercise along with you. But it should be somebody committed or else
your interest might dwindle. This is indeed an excellent idea. One of the advantages of
getting a committed person t exercise with you is that it keeps you going.
There may be days when you feel just too lazy to crawl out of bed in the mornings. On such
days, the knowledge that some body is waiting for you is enough to slide out of bed.
Another advantage is that you can discuss your progress and fears with another person and
be a sympathetic listener to the other person as well. This is a fine way of getting motivated
your self.
59.
Stop when your body has had enough. There is no sense in pushing it. When you have
worked out for a considerable time, your body will start giving you signals.
Heed those signals. This is particularly true in the initial stages. Take one step at a time. Stop
when you are out of breath or when a certain part of your body tells you that it has had
enough.
60.
If you want to increase your time of exercise or your work out routine, do it gradually and not
in sudden steps.
Well easier said than done. Most of us have such hectic schedules that it is quite impossible to
fit in tie for exercise right? Wrong. I want to say it once and for all, your body, or anybody’s
body for that matter needs proper exercise. If you make up your mind to do it, you just can.
61.
Select an exercise pattern to suit your life style. All f us have different life styles and
professions so there is no sense in trying to follow the book strictly. Try and follow an
exercise routine that is suitable for you. You have to understand that even more important
than the exercise itself is sticking to it. So unless you choose something that can suit your life
style, you are not going to stick on to it.
62.
Don’t stand, walk. If you can walk about then do so. Do not stand in a fixed position. Pacing
about is a good thing to do. If you are thinking deeply about something, try pacing about, it
will aid in your thinking.
63.
Don’t sit, stand. If you can stand, then do not sit. The golden rule is to choose a position that
is less comfortable.
64.
Don’t lie down, sit. The rule that we mentioned above rings true here as well.
65.
Do not be a couch potato. It is the easiest thing in the world to become a couch potato. You
know what we are talking about don’t you? That shapeless thing that sits or reclines on a
shapeless chair in front of the television and stupidly munches away at something fried!
If you are inclined to become a promising old couch potato, break the habit, cut at the very
root of the vine. And you want to know what is the best way for that? Take away that favorite
chair of yours. In fact, it would be a very good idea if you could keep a chair that isn’t too
comfortable in front of the TV.
This will discourage any tendency to become a couch potato.
66.
If you have a sitting job, stand up and stretch yourself every half an hour. Most of the jobs
today are indeed sitting jobs that are in one word sedentary. This is especially true for those
who sit and punch away at the keyboard or toy with the mouse all day long.
So if you have such a job, make it a point to get up at least every half an hour and stretch
your self.
67.
While making telephone calls try walking up and down. I hope you will agree with me that
this is an excellent suggestion.
68.
Use the stairs instead of the elevator whenever you can. Elevators are one hell of a
convenience particularly if you have to go up or down some twenty floors. But elevators also
make us very lazy.
There may be no sense in trudging up some twenty flights of stairs because by the time you
get there you will be totally pooped. But while coming down, if you have the time, you can
easily come down the stairs instead of using the elevator. Coming down is not at all
exhausting.
And talking about the time factor, I don’t think that there is much of a difference. Sometimes
waiting for an elevator door to open at your floor after you hit the button can take up all of
eternity.
69.
Smoking is bad for weight loss. Smoking as such may not contribute to weight loss but
smoking leads to other conditions like erratic eating habits and excessive dependence on
things like coffee.
70.
If you hate running, remember, you do not have to run a marathon to stay fit. 10 minutes of
cardio each day is good enough for most.
71.
And if you can’t run, try walking. 15 minutes of brisk walking a day is enough to keep most fit.
72.
Any distance is walkable if you have the time, so consider walking to places that you would
normally drive (such as work or the market if they’re not too far away). It may take you
longer, but the health benefits will last you a lifetime.
73.
It sounds strange, but some people have reported that they lost more weight when they
drank black coffee before a workout. While there’s no hard data to support this, nutritionists
speculate that the caffeine in coffee makes the body rely more on fat for fuel during the work
out. It’s worth trying!
74.
Here’s a corollary to the tip above: Avoid drinking coffee in excess, as it tends to desensitize
your body to the fat burning effects of caffeine.
75.
Stop using remote controls. Remote controls are the bane of a prospective weight loser. They
may be remarkable gadgets by themselves but from the weight loss point of view, they just
aren’t very helpful.
They really encourage us to take a laid back kind of attitude towards life itself. In fact if
remote controls were not there, the television would not have become so popular. It is
because of remote controls that people can remain where they are and switch from one
channel to the other. And they only have to twitch a finger muscle to achieve this.
Now, I have nothing against multi channel television sets but what I strongly advocate is that
you get up from where you are and change the channel of the TV each time you want to do
so.
The same thing holds true for other remote controls as well. As it is we have remote
controlled TVs, DVD players, A/Cs, garage doors, gateways and what not. The next thing we
know is that we will have remote controlled people as well.
76.
Do things like fetching, turning things off and on by yourself. Often when we come back tired
from work, we tend to get others to do simple chores for us. These things are no big deal.
They are things that we can very well do for our selves but we don’t.
That is why we often ask our kids to fetch us this or take away that.
Training your pet is a wonderful thing indeed. It is quite remarkable how some people get
their dogs to fetch them something. But the fact is that while you may be making sure that
your dog is getting a lot of exercise, you are neglecting your bit of the story.
77.
Here’s a pop quiz. Escalators help us to:
1. Move up and down faster
2. Gain weight
3. Stand stupidly as they move up and down
4. Look down at other people when you are going down
5. Look up to others when we are going up
You have to pick the correct answer from the 5 alternatives given. You can see for your self
that all the options are in a way correct. So the next time you travel on an escalator, don’t
just stand there...climb up or down along with it. (Or better yet, take the stairs.)
78.
During commercial breaks walk about. If you want to sit all evening with your eyes glued to
the tube, then do so. But at least spare your eyes the agony of a commercial break.
When the next commercial flashes on screen, instead of surfing, get up and take a walk.
Reach over and try to touch your toes or do any such simple exercise that will at least get the
blood flowing in your veins.
79.
Wriggle your toes and your fingers whenever you can. This too is a stress buster and it gives
you a chance to at least work your hand and leg joints. This will tell you how sore they are
and if their condition is so bad, just think of the rest of your body.
80.
Turn on music and dance like wild. Let your hair down once in a while. Go back to the days of
wild child hood. Close the door of your room, turn on your sound system to the highest
volume possible (but a little lower than the level at which your neighbors start to complain)
and then do the wackiest dance that you can think of. Jump on your bed and jump off it
again.
Roll all over the floor. Pretend that you are Michael Jackson or Madonna (you will never see
them keeping still) and do ever boogie move that you know.
81.
Carry a soft flying disc or Frisbee with you. Toss it around and get up to fetch it. This is also
an excellent way to beat stress. It makes a person feel good to throw something away
forcefully when the person is all worked up. And the thing that you throw is something soft
and can’t damage anything, then what is stopping you?
It is not really the throwing part that we are interested in. It is the fetching part. Each time
you get up to fetch it back; you are giving yourself a chance to stretch those muscles and
joints
82.
Get down at a block before your destination and walk the rest of the way. You might not have
time to fit in long walks in your busy schedule so this is one way of ensuring that you at least
get to walk for a little bit every day. If you take the bus or the subway, get down at an earlier
station and see if you can walk the rest of the way.
If you drive to work, see if you can get space in a parking lot that is a little away from your
office.
83.
When nobody is watching try doing pelvic gyrations. If you take a moment to observe it you
will see that it is the mid section of our body that gets the least bit of exercise and that is
probably why the signs of weight gain are mostly seen there.
It is the same reason why we find it very difficult to lose weight in that section. So the best
thing that you can do is consciously try to give that part a little bit of exercise.
Stomach crunches might be too strenuous an exercise to start off with but gyrations are
relatively mild. Pelvic gyrations make you thrust your midsection towards all directions and
this is the best way of tightening every muscle in that mid section and that is of course what
weight loss is all about.
84.
Tuck in your tummy whenever you walk. Get that proper gait. And the best way for that is to
tuck in your tummy and inflate your chest. Do not let your tummy hang above your belt line
like some unruly layer of flesh. Bring it under the belt.
Each time you tuck in your tummy, you will feel the pressure on the muscles of your
stomach. This tightening and loosening of these muscles is even better than stomach
crunches.
85.
Try breathing exercises. You might be surprised to know that breathing exercises too can lead
to weight loss. If you are doing the breathing exercises properly, you will find that you can
exert a lot of pressure on the muscles around the mid section.
You can feel a tightening of these muscles each time you breathe in or breathe out. So go
ahead and breathe properly, it is good for you.
86.
Try yoga. Yoga is one of the best ways of losing weight. Of course I can’t go into a full lecture
about yoga over here but I can tell you that I have never seen people with better-toned
bodies than those who practice yoga.
One of the benefits of yoga is that you learn to control virtually every muscle and joint of
your body so that the issue of weight gain will cease to exist.
87.
Try massaging your partner. This is a fun way to lose weight. It is something that can give
your partner a lot of pleasure and at the same time can give you a lot of exertion there by
leading to weight loss.
The attitude over here should of course be you scratch my back I will scratch yours. It should
not be a one sided effort or else the interest will soon dwindle.
In fact it is a good idea if couple take up weight loss routines together. They can keep watch
over each other, help control those urges to eat and motivate each other to stick to the
routine.
There are a lot of things that couples can do together that can help them to keep physically
active.
88.
If you can’t think of any thing else to do try punching your pillow. Now here’s another one of
those weird ideas but believe me it works. Not too many of us have punching bags at home
and if you have really fluffy pillow giving it a good punching routine is just as good as
anything else.
This is also a nice way of letting off steam so go for it. After all something is better than
nothing. But I would suggest that you do not hit it too violently or else the stuffing might
come out. Do not bother too much about the force with which you hit the pillow. It is number
of hits that are important. Try to get at least fifty punches in one bout.
I would like to give you a little tip over here. If there is somebody that you particularly dislike
like your boss or your neighbor, or may be your ex boy friend or girl friend, try fixing a
picture of the persons head on the top of your pillow and then try punching it. I promise you,
it will give you a lot of satisfaction.
89.
Instead of waddling up and down the staircase, try taking them two at a time. Now this is
something that you have to be careful about because we do not want you to trip. So when
you do this make sure that your feet are well and truly planted on each step before you
increase the beat and try two at a time.
90.
If you have a dog, take it for a run and let the dog lead you on. You will be surprised as to
how much exercise a dog can give you.
Animals are sensible enough to know that they need a lot of exercise so let your animal lead
you on. Take your pet dog out for as walk and before you know what hit you, it will turn out
to be a run.
91.
Join a dance class. Dancing is a wonderful way to burn off those extra calories. It is true.
When you dance you are in fact burning away a lot of calories. Of course we are not referring
to the slow ballroom kind of dances in which one person actually leans on the other one for
support. We are talking about fast dances.
The best way to do it is by joining a dance class because they will really wok you out. But I
would suggest that you wait for a couple more pounds to vanish before you think of becoming
a ballerina.
92.
Whenever you can, lean against a wall with your hands flattened against the wall and in such
a way that your face is very close to the wall. Then use you hands to push your body away
from the wall. Do this two or three times at a stretch.
93.
If there is a pool nearby go for swims as often as you can, swimming is one of the best
exercises. Water has a lot of advantages. And if nothing else, a cool dip in a pool is a
wonderful stress reliever.
94.
Try playing something like table tennis or basket ball. Games are a fun way to lose weight. It
is much more exciting to play a game than just work out by yourself. The best thing about
games is that they are addictive. Once you start playing you will soon end up with a friends’
circle and then the playing goes on without even you knowing it.
It is something that you can look forward to and there is no stress involved in this program.
In fact the more you play the less you will consider this to be a part of your weight loss
program. As you burn away those calories, you will also be able to expand your social circle.
95.
Any work out should start with a 5 to 10 minute warm up and should end with a 5 to ten
minute cool down session. Whatever physical exercise you are involved in, you must
remember to warm up before the exercise really starts. Do not just plunge into the water and
start thrashing about, to put it figuratively.
Your body needs to reach a certain level of readiness before it can actually start responding
to exercise. And this readiness is achieved by the warming up process.
96.
Do not carry your mobile phone around but leave it a place where you can hear it ringing. In
this way you make sure that you at least get up and walk towards it. This might sound sill but
I really mean it. You need a reason to keep yourself going.
Life today has become so easy that we have every thing at our fingertips. All we have to do is
push a button here and push a button there. The only things that get any exercise at all are
our fingers. Years ago Charles Darwin put forward a theory of use and disuse.
According to this theory, a certain part of the body that is put to constant use develops a lot
and a certain part of the body that has no use at all becomes smaller and smaller and
gradually ceases to exist.
Certain examples that he quoted were the long neck of the giraffe, which appeared to become
longer and longer when the giraffe stretched higher and higher to reach the leaves at the
treetops. He quoted the example of the absence of a tail in human beings to illustrate the
example of the theory of disuse.
Now if Darwin’s theory were to prove true, as the years go by man is likely to end up with
just a huge head, a few fingers and maybe some other parts of the body that are also put to
use.
That is why I made it a point to say that you have to drive your self to move about. A cell
phone may be convenient, but the same thing can turn out to simplify life just a little too bit.
There are other arguments against the use of cell phones but that is beside our topic.
What I would suggest is that at home or in your office, leave the cell phone lying about so
that you can hear it ring, but can’t just reach into your pocket and answer it. See to it that
you have to actually stand up and walk a few steps before you can pick it up.
97.
While traveling in an elevator instead of just standing there and staring stupidly at the
numbers going up or down, try raising your self onto your toes and then back on your feet
again. Do this several times. Also try flexing your buttock muscles as well.
In fact there are many muscles in our body that we can twitch and flex without inviting the
attention of others. Even if others do notice you, its no big deal provided you are flexing a
muscle in a decent part of the body. (Most of the other parts do not have muscles any way.)
Others might brand you as a health freak but it is miles better to be known as a heath freak
than as a sack of potatoes.
98.
Undress and stare at yourself in front of your mirror. If what you see displeases you, then
you have all the more reason to work out. Try tucking in the extra fat in all those wide areas,
this will give you an idea of which part you need to be working on.
Turn to you side and get a very good view of your side profile. This is an excellent way of
checking whether you have a tummy that is starting to bulge or has bulged already.
Try pulling in air and then take a look at your tummy, if it has gone in even a little bit, there
is hope for you. If you start now, you can control it where it is now and may be if you really
set your mind to it, you can lose a couple of inches in a just a few weeks.
Weighing your self on your bathroom scales is a good idea but personally I would recommend
this mirror viewing. To be very frank, a few pounds gain may shock you but does not really
disgust you. But a flabby figure and extra fat certainly will.
99.
If you have a banister rail or a balustrade that will support you, sit on it and pump your legs
as if you are riding a bicycle, taking care not to fall off of course.
This might sound like another crazy idea and I don’t want to argue with you about that. I just
want to tell you that by doing such crazy things, you are in fact not missing a single chance to
lose those extra pounds. It is a way of keeping your mind alert all the time. Every thing must
look like an opportunity to you.
100.
Do not slouch in your chair but try to maintain an erect posture with your tummy tucked in.
Slouching is a very bad habit. Not only is it bad for your back but it also gives you a very
flabby figure. It is your way of saying yes to a comfortable, weight-gaining pose.
Make it a point to always sit as erect as you can. It is also a terrific way to ward off back
problems.
101.
Psst. I would like to let you in on a secret. As it is I understand that most of us tend to put on
weight particularly in the mid section, right. It is the tummy that seems to have a mind of its
own. Well I will tell you a sure shot method to reduce the flab around the waist line. Mind you
this doesn’t hold true for post pregnancy tummies. This is what you have to do.
Breathe in air as strongly as you can and as you do so, tuck in your tummy as much as you
can. Hold it like this for a few seconds and then slowly release your breath taking care not to
let out your tummy. Try to keep breathing like this at least fifty or sixty times in a day.
In fact breathe like this whenever you can remember to do so. After the first day, you should
feel the muscles of your stomach tightening each time you do this. Then you know that you
are on the right track. If you practice this without fail for 20 days, at the end of the twentieth
day, you will have lost at least an inch.
Below I have included a table of the various exercises and the number of calories that can be
burnt with each exercise. Choose what you can do best and choose something that you will
enjoy doing on the long run as well.
The choice of the exercise is completely left to you but try to do whatever you wish to do for
at least twenty minutes. It is only after you do the exercise for twenty minutes that the actual
calorie burning sets in.
Aerobics 200-250 calories
Bicycling, Stationary 250-300 calories
Bicycling, Actual 300-400 calories
Running, 5-6 mph 300-350 calories
Stair climber 200-250 calories
Swimming laps 350 calories
Walking briskly 150-180 calories
From this you can see for your self that walking is not at all something that has to be
sidelined. If you really find your days to be too full to fit in any other form of exercise, then
walking is your best bet. Walk as much as you can.
Try getting to places and leaving places a little early. This will give you time to walk.
Well, I guess that’s about it. The ball is now in your court so what are you waiting for? Get rid
of those extra calories and pounds as early as you can and try to enjoy life the best you can
without inviting all those terrible diseases that come with a few extra pounds.
