Fat Loss Friday - Understanding HIIT

Of all the exercises in the world none will improve your fitness as dramatically and lose your fat as quickly as HIIT(High Intensity Interval Training). Its tough to do but incredibly effective

Individuals who are trying to lose fat use this method most often. It has a number of distinct goals and differences which make it unique.

Torch fat using HIIT

The major difference is the amount of time you will spend doing this routine, which should take no longer than twenty minutes, not including warm ups and warm downs. This may appear to be a very short space of time; however, if you do the workout as it is designed you will be very tired at the end of it. Holding an anaerobic state for as long as possible is the main goal of High Intensity Interval Training. Since there are rest intervals in High Intensity Interval Training, you can sprint harder for a longer time. For example, if you were sprinting 100 meters, you would go all out and very fast for about 15 seconds. In the advanced High Intensity Interval Training workout, you might spend seven or eight minutes going full-on for a 15-minute routine. Four to six total workout minutes are perfect for a novice.

High Intensity Interval Training allows for a range of different activities. Using the largest muscle groups in your body safely is important when choosing an activity. The energy source found inside the muscle is tapped by the High Intensity Interval Training. Your benefits increase with an increase in the size of the exercised muscle group.

Sprinting is the ideal choice for High Intensity Interval Training. Pick another activity if you have injuries or problems which may prevent you from sprinting. One excellent option is using a stationery spinning bicycle.

High Intensity Interval Training routines are not designed to be done on consecutive days. The goal of a workout is to operate at quite a high intensity. In order to maintain this level of exertion, put as much effort as possible into your reps. This is when High Intensity Interval Training is at its most productive. After working out, give your muscles time to regain energy. You have a much greater chance of injuring yourself if this doesn't happen, and you will not be able to workout with as much intensity as before. The more rested you are, the more intensity you can put into your workout, getting the benefits in your body during your rest period.

It was believed that doing High Intensity Interval Training on an empty stomach was the optimal method for maximum fat loss.

Easily digested food helps fat loss

However, new studies have shown that this is not the case. Before you exercise, make sure you eat something balanced and easily digestible; also ensure that your meal is not too heavy before you exercise.

One of the goals of High Intensity Interval Training is for continuous improvement, never to hit a wall, or plateau. High Intensity Interval Training capitalizes on your body's natural ability to continuously adapt to increasing levels of demand; because of this innate ability, your body inevitably will adapt to whatever you demand of it. Your goal results will not be as quick if this occurs. Avoid this by keeping your body guessing. After eight weeks on one High Intensity Interval Training program, take a week off and start a different routine. There are many options available.

Source: Greg McKenzie Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

Monday Muscle - Can High Intensity Training Help You?

Workout tips and weight loss advice can be found everywhere you look. They are online, on television, in advertising and just about anywhere you turn. But is there any value in any of these tips?

Unfortunately, the answer is generally no. Most people offering their advice are more interested in taking your money than helping you lose weight or get healthy. It really is sad but all too true.

So are there any good health tips online? Have any studies led to fitness breakthroughs? Is there something all the scam artists don't want you to know?

Mike Mentzer popularised High Intensity Training

This time the answer is yes. Scientific research has been conducted into a relatively new field of exercise known as High Intensity Training, or HIT. These studies have uncovered incredible results that you absolutely need to know.

First, High Intensity Training is the premise that by decreasing the duration of exercise and increasing the intensity, you can still get a good workout. Instead of the traditional workouts of mild intensity and long duration, HIT followers workout for about 10 minutes and exert almost all the energy doing so.

The benefits are staggering. Research has shown HIT to increase metabolism and weight loss as well as increase muscle mass faster. The exercises to achieve these results are not the same, but the principles are.

If you want to achieve optimal weight loss, then HIT can work for you. Incorporate sprint intervals into your jog for a month. If you normally jog on a treadmill for thirty minutes, try jogging just fifteen minutes, then every five minutes try to do an all out sprint for thirty seconds.

This simple change in your routine can dramatically improve your results. Not only will you burn more fat during and after exercise, you will sleep a lot better as well. As you get more fit, increase the duration of your workout and decrease the time between sprints.

If you want to increase muscle mass dramatically, then HIT is perfect for you. Instead of doing endless sets of various weight lifting routines, you only need to do three exercises: bench press, seated row and squats.

The bench press is a "core" exercise

These three exercises will work nearly all of your muscle groups.

Start with the bench press. Find a weight you can barely lift ten times. Now cut that weight in half and do ten reps, only take ten full seconds per rep.

That means take five seconds to put the bar up and another five seconds to let the bar down. This will be much slower than you are used to doing the bench press. It will also be a lot harder than you think to get to ten reps.

After the tenth rep, have a spotter help you do two negative reps. This means they will lift the bar for you and you simply have to let it down. It is a lot harder than it sounds.

Immediately after finishing the bench press, move to the squats. Follow the same format as with the bench press. Use light weight, move slowly and get the negative reps at the end.

Finally, finish with the seated rows. Follow the same principles as before. Once you are finished your muscles will feel more fatigued than they ever have.

This method of working out has shown incredible results for those who have been following a routine. Try High Intensity Training for just one month and see if you notice incredible results like thousands of others.

Cade Lennox is a fitness and health expert who writes articles about exercise, nutrition and more. He has also authored hundreds of treadmill reviews.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Cade_Lennox/873575



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Monday Muscle - How To Mix The Best Ingredients For The Ultimate Muscle Building Shake

When people think of muscle building, they usually imagine barbells, dumbbells, and workouts but give little thought to the role nutrition plays in muscle building. This has led many an aspiring muscle building enthusiast to give up in frustration when he or she sees little or no result after months of hard work at the gym.

In contrast, professional body builders know the value of proper nutrition and almost as a whole pay as much attention to what they consume as they do to their workouts.

Supplements can help 

They not only eat a well-balanced diet but also augment it with protein-rich shakes and powders that their aching muscles need after workouts. If you want to develop strong and well-developed muscles, you should the same. All types of ready-made preparations are available at places like wholefoods but you will not get a fraction of what you can get if you prepare muscle shakes yourself. Fortunately, it is quite easy if you know what ingredients you need as we show you below.

· Whey Protein Powder - 

The undisputed king among protein sources, whey protein is loaded with protein. No serious muscle building fan should be without it. Period!

· Greek Yogurt - 

Also high in protein but low in sugar, this is a nice addition to a shake that will enhance the overall taste of the shake.

· Frozen berries - 

Known for their high antioxidant content, berries also blend beautifully in a shake and give it a thicker milk-shake like texture.

· Ground flaxseeds - 

High in healthy omega fats, they provide an easy and fast way of consuming the healthy fats your body needs and craves.

· Dried coconut - 

Coconuts make a healthy addition

Known for its tasty flavor and energy enhancing qualities, this is another source of healthy fats you don't want to be without.

· Natural nut butter - 

Nothing beats nut butter as a source of healthy fat and as an easy way to give your shake a creamy tasty flavor. Make sure you choose almond or peanut butter variety.

· Cottage Cheese - 

This is another fine ingredient that can serve as an alternative to or as a substitute for Greek Yogurt.

· Dry Ground Up Oats - 

A great source of energy releasing carbohydrates, they lower cholesterol level among other health benefits. Best of all, you will not notice any difference in the taste.

· Bananas - 

Are such a rich source of potassium that they should always be included in all shakes. They also improve the taste significantly and keep your muscles healthy.

· Xanthan gum - 

A tiny amount of this is all you need to turn the mix into a very thick muscle building milk shake. It is an essential component to any shake.

· Milk - 

Finally, milk will supply your muscles with calcium and protein while also helping to make the shake thinner.

The above ingredients are all you need to prepare a muscle shake high in protein and other essential nutrients that your muscles and body desperately need. If you regularly consume a shake using the above set of ingredients while also maintaining a regular workout routine you will soon wake up one fine morning to stare at yourself in the mirror wondering if that impressive physique with lean and well-defined muscles is really you. It is really within your reach if you regularly exercise and nourish yourself with foods high in proteins and other essential nutrients.

Optimize your performance in life. Choose your nutrition wisely to give you energy and mental clarity.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Walter_H_Menuet/1833556

Fat Loss Friday - Breaking the Weight Loss Plateau

One of the most frustrating aspects of weight loss is reaching a weight loss plateau. Thankfully, breaking the weight loss plateau is a relatively simple task once you know what causes it. When we first undertake a weight loss goal we tend to lose a lot of weight initially then the amount slowly declines over a period of weeks or months until we reach the point where we stop losing weight altogether, and it's not that we don't need to lose more weight either. This is referred to as a weight loss plateau. 

Why is the weight not coming off?

You know you're doing all the right things but you're just not losing the weight. In the first week of your program you tend to lose the largest amount of weight. Much of the weight loss this first week is actually excess fluid and can constitute as much as 9 lb (4 kg) or more depending on your starting weight. Fluid loss can represent as much as 50% of total weight lost in the first week. There are several factors that contribute to a weight loss plateau including (but not limited to);

· Insufficient Calories Consumed

· Muscle Loss

· Weight Loss

· Lack Of Discipline

· Physical Adaptation

· Exercise Ability

· Over Exercise

· Enhanced Fitness Levels

Lets deal with these one at a time.

Insufficient Calories Consumed 

The human body requires a MINIMUM of 1200 calories per day to function. If you consume less than that (on a crash diet for example), your body will interpret that as being in a famine and will reduce your metabolism (the bodies ability to burn calories) in order to protect itself and be able to survive for longer. This will stop it from burning fat stores. Solution: Maintain a reasonable calorie consumption. Use a BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) calculator to determine how many calories your body requires per day to maintain itself. Once you have determined approximately how many calories your body requires to operate, reduce you calorie consumption to 500-700 calories less than that without going under 1200 calories. More than a 700 calorie deficit may lead to muscle loss which is the next cause of a weight loss plateau.

Muscle Loss 

All bodily tissue requires energy to maintain itself, including fat. Muscle requires FIVE TIMES the amount of energy to maintain itself than fat does.

You need to build muscle to lose weight

The higher the muscle percentage in your body the greater your caloric needs. Unfortunately, diets sometimes lead to muscle loss. The bodies primary source of energy is carbohydrates, followed by protein then fat. Your muscles are made of protein so if your body runs out of carbs it may turn to muscle as an energy source if those muscles are no being maintained by exercise. Unfortunately, muscle loss leads to a lower metabolism. Solution: Eat a diet rich in protein and exercise in conjunction with your reduced calorie diet to maintain muscle mass and prevent muscle loss. If necessary, vitamin supplements may be utilized to ensure correct nutrition.

Weight Loss 

Huh? Isn't losing weight the whole point? Yes it is! But as you lose weight the number of calories your body requires to maintain itself also reduces. As mentioned earlier, even fat needs calories to maintain itself. Solution: As you lose weight, check your BMR regularly to see how many calories your body requires per day and maintain a calorie consumption around 500 calories less than that. But remember, don't consume less than 1200 calories.

Lack Of Discipline 

After several weeks of a new weight loss program many people tend to lose focus. They start indulging their cravings for unhealthy foods more than they should and they cut corners on exercise, skipping one day under the pretense of exercising twice as much the next day etc. This decreases the BMR and increases calorie intake which effectively stops weight loss.

Stay motivated and disciplined 

Solution: Staying motivated during a weight loss program can be a challenge. One of the best ways to overcome this issue is to find a weight loss buddy. Having someone to exercise with and be answerable to can be an effective motivator. Another great motivational tool is a printable weight loss goal setting worksheet. Print it out, fill it out and place it on the fridge, where you will see it regularly and it will remind you of what you are trying to achieve

Physical Adaptation 

Our bodies adapt themselves to our calorie consumption and physical activity levels. When we begin an exercise regime, our body is required to make several changes to adjust to changing workloads. Our muscles have to rebuild themselves and this requires many calories. But, over time the body finishes adapting and burns less calories for the same activities. Solution: Don't allow you body to adapt. Vary your exercise program by changing the intensity, duration, frequency and type of exercise. If you always do weights then go do some cardio, grab a jump rope and skip for 15 minutes. You can also utilize interval training where you swap and change between different types of exercise for set amounts of time.

Exercise Ability 

Whenever you do an exercise regularly you become better at it and your body requires less calories to perform it. A trained athlete burns less calories playing their sport than someone who isn't trained in that sport. Solution: Once again, don't allow your body to adapt to a single exercise. Mix it up, if you're always doing weights then go for a run, switch from the treadmill to a rowing machine etc.

Over Exercise 

If you exercise too much your body adapts and reaches a point where the extra energy consumed in exercise is offset by a DECREASE in the amount of energy used when not exercising.

Sometimes you need a break

In other words, when you increase exercise intensity, your body decreases the number of calories consumed during the rest of your day. Solution: Allow yourself recovery time. Take a break for a few days with some low impact exercise like swimming or tai chi. When you return to your normal exercise routine, pull back a little and only increase intensity when needed to maintain weight loss.

Enhanced Fitness Levels 

As your fitness level increases, your body efficiency increases and requires less calories to operate. Enhanced fitness causes a reduced resting metabolic rate and fewer calories required for normal daily activities. This is partially because your cardio-pulmonary efficiency is increased and your resting heart rate is lower. Solution: Congratulations! You're officially fit and healthy. You can justifiably feel proud of yourself. Concentrate on mixing up your routine to maintain progress and life will just get better and better! Another thing to keep in mind is that weight loss is not the only aspect to increasing your fitness. It is possible to lose inches without losing weight. This is because if you build muscle through resistance training that muscle weighs MORE than fat but requires LESS space. A person who weighs 200 lbs with 25% lean muscle will be smaller than another person of the same height and weight who only has 20% lean muscle. So in summary there are four main things to remember:

1. Keep track of your BMR (how many calories per day your body needs to maintain itself).

2. Maintain a calorie consumption of 500-700 less than your BMR without going below the 1200 minimum.

3. Engage in exercise to prevent muscle loss.

4. Mix up your exercise program to prevent your body from adapting.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Julia_Bell/416005

Monday Muscle - In a Hurry? You Can Still Exercise

Effective Exercises For People In A Hurry

Walking: You can walk any time or use a treadmill. All you need is a good pair of shoes. Start to walk for fitness, begin with five to 10 minutes at a time. Add a few minutes to each walk until you get to at least 30 minutes per walk. Interval Training will let you boost fitness, burn more calories, and lose weight. The basic idea is to vary the intensity within your workout, instead of going at a steady pace.

Brisk walk

Whether you walk, run, dance, or do another cardio exercise, push up the pace for a minute or two. Then back off for two to 10 minutes. Exactly how long your interval should last depends on the length of your workout and how much recovery time you need.

Squats: Squats work several muscle groups -- your quadriceps ("quads"), hamstrings, and gluteals ("glutes") -- at the same time. Keep your feet shoulder-width apart and your back straight. Bend your knees and lower your rear as if you were sitting down in a chair. Keep your knees right over your ankles. Practice with a real chair to master this move. First, sit all the way down in the chair and stand back up. Next, barely touch the chair's seat before standing back up. Work up to doing the squats without a chair, keeping the same form.

Lunges: Like squats, lunges work all the major muscles of your lower body. They can also improve your balance. Take a big step forward, keeping your back straight. Bend your front knee to about 90 degrees. Keep weight on your back toes and drop the back knee toward the floor. Don't let the back knee touch the floor.

Push-Ups: Push-ups strengthen your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core muscles. Facing down; place your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Place your toes on the floor. If that's too hard, start with your knees on the floor. Your body should make a straight line from shoulders to knees or feet. Keep your rear-end muscles and abs engaged. Bend your elbows to lower down until you almost touch the floor. Lift back up by pushing through your elbows; Keep your torso in a straight line throughout the move. If you're new to push-ups you can start doing them by leaning into a kitchen counter. As you get stronger, go lower, using a desk or chair. Then you can move onto the floor, starting with your knees bent. For a challenge, put your feet on a stair, bench, or couch while keeping good form.

Always time for exercise

Crunches: Start by lying on your back with your feet flat on the floor and your head resting in your palms. Press your lower back down. Contract your abdominal muscles (abs) and in one smooth move, raise your head, then your neck, shoulders, and upper back off the floor. Tuck in your chin slightly. Lower back down and repeat. You can also do crunches with your feet off the floor and knees bent. This technique may keep you from arching your back. It also uses your hip flexors (muscles on your upper thighs below your hip bones). Keep your neck in line with your spine. Tuck in your chin so it doesn't stick out. Breathe normally. To keep chest and shoulders open, keep your elbows out of your line of vision.Article source:Vasanthi Sivakumar http://www.articlewheel.com/article/187/effective-exercises-for-people-in-a-hurry.html

Monday Muscle - Personal Fitness Trainers

Aspects To Consider When Choosing A Personal Fitness Trainer

Choosing the right Personal Fitness Trainer you are going to work with is a very important decision. There are scores of trainers in the market each armed with a bagful of qualifications yet not all of them offer the same quality of training. You have to learn to filter out the best and most suitable fitness trainers by using these simple guidelines.

Relevant experiences and qualifications

Personal fitness trainers have relevant experience and good qualifications to their credit. However there are some operators who may want to dupe you with their forged certificates and false assurances. Here is how you should judge the authenticity of personal trainers.

Relevant experience

Ask directly to see the physical evidence of the certifications. Don’t believe anything only on the basis of words. Look for certificates and papers pertaining to their professional qualifications.

When it comes to experience ask for references and phone numbers of previous clients the personal fitness trainers have worked with. Don’t trust anybody who feigns an excuse for not providing references. If you have a trusted friend or colleague who is well acquainted with the fitness industry, you can take along that person while selecting a personal trainer.

Traits of the perfect personal trainer

Personal Fitness Trainers are usually quite adaptable to the varied needs of their clients. However, here are a few things to check for when you are judging the compatibility of a specific trainer.

Personal Trainers

Are the payment modes and the fees structure compatible to your budget? Will your trainer offer discounts if you take him on for a long period of time or refer him to other interested parties? Is the personal fitness trainer okay with offering you a free trial session before you commit?

Does the trainer fit in with your schedule? Is he/she recommending a medical check-up before you embark on the fitness regime? (The answer should always be yes). Can the fitness trainer offer diet and nutrition advice as well as psychological mentoring?

The answers to these questions will give you a fair idea about how well the personal trainer will fit in with your needs.

How compatible are you with your trainer?

Suppose you find a trainer who has tones of experience, a great resume, perfect physique and yet comes within your budget? There is just one small problem. You just don’t like the guy. Should you hire him anyways? The answer is a definite “no”.

It’s very important to be compatible with the person who is going to guide you along the path of fitness. After all you will have to listen to the instructions of your Personal Fitness Trainer and also let him/her share your personal space (especially if you are training in your home gym).

Find a trainer who listens to your concerns patiently, answers your questions correctly and respects the sanctity and privacy of your home. Remember, your fitness training session will only work if you are in a comfortable footing with your Personal Fitness Trainer .

http://www.articlewheel.com/article/1054/aspects-to-consider-when-choosing-a-personal-fitness-trainer-broadbeach.html

Monday Muscle - Peptides.

All You Need to Know About the Best Peptides

The fitness world is abuzz with the use of peptides today. With such a variety of peptides being manufactured, it can be daunting to choose the best peptides. . You can choose them based on the task they perform. Peptides are available for a number of things like fat loss, enhancing athletic performance, bulking up and so much more. However, what really are peptides and how do they do all this magic? This article outlines what they really do and how using peptides can enhance your fitness.

What are peptides?

They are a compound of amino acids and are almost a protein but not quite. Anything that has less than 50 amino acids is known as peptides although it is not a rule. They perform a number of functions. Some act as neurotransmitters and many like hormones as well.

Female fitness

Peptides’ contribution is an essential part of the human growth hormone. People seeking to achieve muscle growth need to attain a high amount of peptides. While performing important tasks like helping the body recover from injury and maximizing fitness, peptides production can fall short when pursuing athletic goals.

Peptides for Body Building

Amino acids and supplements form an essential core of body building. However, the use of peptides has only recently picked up. They hold a lot more advantages then steroids. Firstly, they are smaller and the body does not need to do a lot of work to break them down. They are also known to be a lot more stable and thus beneficial. So how do you source the best peptides?

Buying Peptides

The internet is one of the largest channels for buying peptides only. You need to find the most reliable source and the best peptide company to make your cycle effective. A number of healthcare companies focused on creating health supplements and other products offer customized peptides. However, it is important to ascertain the authenticity. Ensure that the company is registered and licensed to bring out peptides and steroid supplements. Also make sure they have the experience of working as a healthcare firm and manufacturing a variety of products. The company you choose to source your peptides from needs to have a state of the art research process. You can even get your peptides customized according to your needs.

An ISO 9001-2000 company should be a preferable choice. It ensures that not only are you getting what you pay for but also from a reliable source. Peptides are becoming increasingly popular in the body building world. This is the right time to choose a company to buy research peptides from. Their use is slated to increase in a variety of fields and the demand is about to soar. With this, it is necessary to ascertain that you buy the right product. Peptides are an effective component for body building. Using the right variation and quality product ensures that you are able to achieve your fitness and athletic goals. Remember your health is your biggest asset. Put your fitness aspirations only into the best hands in the business.

By: Mr.William William Llewellyn

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Monday Muscle - Five tips that help you find time for exercise

Only about 30 percent of adult Americans report that they have regular physical activity during their leisure time; and about 40 percent of Americans say that they dont have leisure-time at all, to do the physical activities.

All in common agree on the fact that regular exercises help the person in terms of health and long life. But, most of the people do not focus on exercise. The most common reason people give for this is that they, do not have the time.

Lack of awareness also puts regular exercise at a lower priority. This article may help you change your priorities and find time for exercise.

Tips to find time for exercise
1. Wake up early

If you wake up early, you will be adding more time to your day. This provides you the opportunity to find time to do exercise. It's not really hard to wake up a little early that you are used to. It is little bit hard until you get habituated. Afterwards once you feel the difference and the gain you will have more of a reason to continue waking early and doing exercise. There are many benefits in waking up early and doing exercise - you will feel more energetic and fresh for sure.

2. Limit your time spent on TV & Online
Track the time you spend on TV, online & mobile games for a few days. Then you will come to know how much time you are spending on those things.

Then, try to limit the time you are spending on TV & online, for example: if you are spending 3 hours, reduce by 1 hour and assign that to exercise. You don't really need to sacrifice your joy anyway.

3. Cut down low priority things from daily routine and allot that time for exercise
For most people who cannot find time, it is not really about time, it's about the priority they are giving to exercise. If you feel that exercise is more important and shouldn't be avoided, then you can adjust the time for it. Make the list of things you do daily. Divide the items into following 2 categories:

Important things that are highly essential to you (Job, Family)

Enjoyment/Less Important Activities (Movies, Parties)

Try to include exercise in the list of important things. Then, you will automatically find time for exercise.

4. Stay motivated by the benefits
Motivation is the best way to find time to do something. You might know that exercise has many benefits. Always keep in mind that the exercise will protect you from many health issues, keeps your body in shape and boost your brain power. Once you start doing exercise regularly, you will get motivated by the changes in the body. All you have to do is, go to gym regularly and maintain the motivation and fitness cycle.

5. Socialize at the Gym

This is one of the best passive motivation to find time for exercise. We don't need any motivation to spend time with friends. Find some friends at gym. As you do workouts with friends, you can enjoy the workouts without feeling it as hard. This also motivates you to go to gym regularly, to meet friends.

Hope the above tips will help you manage time to do exercise. If you still do not get motivation to find time to exercise, read the following quote by Edward Stanley, a British statesman - Those who think they have no time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness. Take this quote and paste it somewhere in your room, for sometimes fear motivates better than anything else.

http://www.articlesnatch.com/blog/Five-Tips-That-Help-You-Find-Time-For-Exercise/6600859

10 perfect muscle building foods for men and women (6 - 10)

Building muscle is important in a quest for a slimmer, healthier body. Every pound of muscle burns up an extra 50 calories just to maintain itself. Fat requires none! Therefore to maintain that muscle you need quality, nutritious food.

Today we look at the second part of the 10 best foods to build and maintain muscle

6) Lean Beef

For decades beef has remained at the top of the list of best muscles building foods for good reason! Beef contains a muscles building cocktail of protein packed with essential amino acids, B-vitamins, and creatine. Beef also contains a mixture of saturated fat, which can support healthy testosterone levels, and monounsaturated fat, for heart health. As an added benefit research from the University of Melbourne, shows that people who eat more red meat report feeling lower levels of anxiety and stress

7) Rotisserie Chicken

Rotisserie chicken should be your go-to of these muscle food options. Available at almost all supermarkets rotisserie chickens provide you with readily available ready-to-eat high quality protein. Have one or two breast or mix and match light and dark meat whichever fits your diet.

8) Lentils

Lentils should be your secret mass building weapon. One cup of cooked lentils contains 18 grams of protein and 40 grams of slow digesting quality carbohydrates. They are also very inexpensive and have a long shelf-life. They cook up in just 10 minutes and can be added mixed in with brown rice, sprinkled over a salad or eaten as a standalone side dish.

9) Wild Salmon

Salmon contains both high quality protein and the long chain omega-3 fats EPA and DHA. These omega-3 fats are most well known for their ability to improve heart health but they also inhibit muscle breakdown while increasing the anabolic capacity of amino acids. If you don’t like eating fish then make sure to take a fish oil supplement to reap these benefits. And, just because your fish is fatty doesn't mean your body will be, too. Salmon makes our list of the fatty foods that will help you lose weight.

10) Fermented Dairy Products

Fermented dairy products like kefir are a little-known muscle-building magic bullet. Kefir is the perfect addition to any muscle-building blender bomb, providing distinct nutritional advantages over water or regular milk. If you usually use water in your shakes, 1 cup of kefir will add 150 calories to your diet. Compared to regular milk, kefir will allow your meal to be more easily digested due to the presence of probiotics (up to 10 billion good bacteria per cup). These healthy bacteria will help keep your digestive track running at peak condition so it can breakdown and assimilate maximum amount of calories and nutrients from your meals.

Courtesy of Men's Fitness

How to Keep the Weight Off

By David Hung

Imagine this scenario - you’ve spent months working out, eating well and living a balanced lifestyle. As a result of this effort, you’ve been able to get down to your target weight and are feeling great! Then, as a few weeks or months pass, you start to see the weight come back. You are frustrated and tired of feeling like all your hard work doesn’t really pay off in the long run.

Reality Check

Does this sound like you or someone you know? Gaining weight after a major loss is a relatively common occurrence, but fortunately there is a way to effectively address the issue. Although people may be satisfied with their health and wellness after getting down or close to their ideal weight, effort still needs to be made in order to continue to maintain a healthy, fit lifestyle. According to the New York Times (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/how-weight-training-can-help-yo...), the best way to avoid regaining weight after losing noticeable amounts is to incorporate regular weight training sessions into your fitness routine.

Benefits of Weight Training

Weight training is capable of increasing the amount of calories burned throughout the day, which is a major reason why people who weight train don’t gain the weight back. The amount of calories that a person burns each day is dependent on something called non-exercise activity thermogenesis (N.E.A.T.). N.E.A.T. measures how much energy is used for activities like standing, fidgeting and walking, which aren’t related to exercise. Once a person’s weight has decreased then the amount of energy their body requires for these everyday activities decreases. Weight training is one of the few ways in which you can put the effects of N.E.A.T. in your favor and continue to burn calories, which will allow you to effectively keep the weight off.

How to Get Started

Weight training should be done three times a week and should incorporate both upper and lower-body exercises. Coming up with a consistent and comprehensive schedule encourages more movement throughout the day and therefore activates N.E.A.T. to burn more calories. A great way to get started with weight training is receiving supervision. Supervision will provide assistance and help you determine proper form. Proper form is essential as it reduces risk of injury and increases the effects of the weight training exercises. In addition to the benefits mentioned above, people who weight train have a better walking economy and feel like moving is easier compared to those who do not weight train after weight loss. If you want to notice increased movement and calorie burn post-weight loss, weight training is the way to go.

In conclusion, weight training is the most effective way to keep off the weight after losing it. Even though you may feel fit and fantastic after putting in lots of effort and going through a major weight loss, it is important to maintain a consistent and comprehensive weight training schedule so you can ensure that you’ll keep the weight off, stay strong and feel great.