Muscle Rumor » Weight Loss

Weight Loss Tips; The Bodybuilder’s Secret

Muscle Builder Guy — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 09:59:05 +0000

Weight loss is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States, and becoming ever more present worldwide. You see regular people adopt unsustainable diets all the time, and only the extraordinary seem to be able to keep the weight off. When was the last time you saw a fat gymnast or fat bodybuilder on the cover of a magazine? Well, in this article, rather than promoting a bunch of weight loss tips, I will share the nutritional key that all top performing athletes know for maintaining muscle and warding off fat.

What do bodybuilders eat when preparing for a competition? They eat very few calories, but the calories they do consume come from healthy natural fats like almonds or cashews and flax seed, and a serving of protein every two or three hours. Consuming regular protein helps you keep your metabolism revved up for calorie burning goodness, and gives your body more essential vitamins and minerals than any natural combination of vegetables will. You can live on meat indefinitely, but only a few years before a strict vegetarian will need to supplement for what they miss from meat, or they will run into all kinds of health problems from vitamin deficiencies.

What else do bodybuilders do? Well, they often use all kinds of hormone altering drugs that I do not recommend, so let us think about natural bodybuilders instead of bodybuilders in general. Natural bodybuilders enjoy great health, but do not get as big as pharmaceutically enhanced bodybuilders. They can become just as lean, though it requires more work. Your goal is not to attain the leanness of a bodybuilder that is ready for a photo shoot or competition; this kind of body fat is not sustainable for long periods of time, but you can get to a much lower body fat by simply doing complex exercise movements with heavy weights in the gym, having a serving of protein every couple hours, and avoiding calorie dense foods like breads, cereals, pasta, fatty sauces and calorie-dense drinks.

I went from a very fat 235lbs to a very lean 165lbs just through diet alone. When I started exercising and eating as described above, I gained 30lbs of muscle and now hover around 200lbs with a very athletic physique. The bodybuilder’s secret is no quick fix or magic elixir, but it is sustainable (i.e. no yo-yo diets) and will serve you well for a lifetime.

The author is a self improvement fanatic and writes articles on everything from acne scar treatment to weight loss and everything in between.

Basic Lose Weight Tips For Success

Muscle Builder Guy — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 03:45:04 +0000

A person usually gains weight when he or she eats uncontrolled amount of food that has large content of saturated fat. This is a common understanding to weight gain. Believe it or not, it’s true. However, that is just one risk factor that urges weight gain. But eating too much doesn’t automatically means that a person gains weight right away. In rare cases, some eats whatever kind of food without gaining too much weight because he or she burns up the food-calorie contents in what he or she ate. The usual factor why people gain weight is due to an imbalance between the calorie intake and the calorie burn up. So lets talk about some nutrition tips for weight loss.

To prevent this imbalance, maintaining daily physical activities are vital and will help you get ripped in 90 days. However, physical activities don’t necessitate the extreme muscle building exercises. A person just has to burn the calories through exercising and sweat it all up. If you are a busy bee, there are exercises that can only consume ten minutes up to thirty minutes of your morning routine, daily. Also, another important factors is, a regular exercise must always be included in a person’s lifestyle.

Aside from the advantages of regular physical activity and watching out on the calorie intake, one has to be educated about the other tried and tested practices to prevent weight gain, or for most people, to lose weight.

First is the neglection of the proper basic diet. Eating food with the necessary basic nutrients to maintain a basal metabolism is the usual diet. Maintaining a good metabolism is a significant factor that helps lessen weight gain because it allows the proper digestion of food, reducing chances of having to deal with accumulated fats in the tummy area.

Second, avoid crash dieting. Crash dieting is a reckless practice to aim losing weight. A person who does crash dieting drops intensely the food intake. He or she doesn’t eat rice for the whole day. Some only eats crackers and water. Even when you aim to lose weight, keep in mind that a person must eat a complete nutrient-filled meal a day. The ideal time of the day to eat a complete meal is during lunch time.

Third, if you are experiencing depression, do not resort to food comfort. Although it is rewarding to eat your comfort food when you are down, you must control and consider the calories contained in the food. If you discipline yourself to burn the calories the next day, you may indulge on food but practice strict compliance in exercising.

And lastly, turn away from fast-food meals. Several studies revealed that most fast-food meals contain the highest amount of calories, especially burgers and fries.

After all, losing weight is much difficult to achieve than gaining weight. So if you don’t want to encounter problems with your figure, follow these basic tips to lose weight, or to not gain weight at all.

Protein Shakes and Bigger Muscles

Muscle Builder Guy — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 10:03:04 +0000

With today’s standard of healthy living and what healthy and beautiful people should look like, many have turned to dietary supplements that promise to give exceptional results than their natural counterparts. The rising demand for these supplements like protein shakes for example should not come as a surprise to anyone since more people want to have the perfect lean or muscular body that they always see on television and advertisements. But are these protein supplements needed to increase a person’s muscle development or can they just simply make adjustments in their diet to accommodate their daily protein needs?

It has been debated as to whether or not athletes, body builders, and those who are looking to have a bit more muscle should make these shakes a part of their daily diet and consider them essential in helping them reach their goal. Although it is true that protein is very important in muscle development due to the fact that it is one of the most basic building blocks of our muscles as well as other tissues in our body, it does not necessarily mean that a high protein intake will increase muscle mass unlike what others believe. However the necessity of protein supplements falls under the body’s natural need to recover after a rigorous physical activity. Since protein helps in repairing muscle tissue, athletes and body builders need to supply the body to help in this process and in cases where a protein-rich meal is not readily available for consumption after a tiring workout, a protein shake is the best way to supply your body with the much needed amount of this nutrient.

Still, it remains to be determined how much protein supplement a person should take to get to their fitness goals because most experts say that a person can easily get the amount of protein that they need in their daily meals. If that is the case then should there really be a need for supplements?

Keeping healthy and fit is the best choice that any person can make and if along the way, the need to supply the body with nutrients with the use of food supplement arises then it is always best to consult with a doctor first so we can be properly advised on how to lose weight or build up muscle. We should always remember that even though these supplements are indeed effective and safe, getting nourishment the natural way is still the best thing that we can ever do to keep ourselves from any medical problems later on.

Common Misunderstandings About Weight Loss Products

Muscle Builder Guy — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:14:03 +0000

I can’t really blame the consumers for having unbelievable expectations when it comes to some of the most hyped weight loss products because of the aggressive marketing these days. Many companies do not only use scientific vocabulary in their promotion techniques but also they create a hype around the product, by going to many public forums and social websites and praise their products. This can be quite confusing for the average Joe and Jane trying to lose weight, and it can lead to really harsh disappointments especially for people who aren’t really experienced with these products.

One common product that has been marketed this way, is the slimming patch, that is both supposed to suppress your appetite, and help your body burn more energy at the same time. The goal here is noble, and they also say that you can wear them during the night and enjoy a boosted fat burn rate when you sleep. What they don’t remember to tell you is that since the patch contains thermogenics that boost your adrenal functions and increase cortisol in your body, you will either be unable to fall asleep, or will sleep very poorly. This will eventually show as increased adipose tissue, especially in the abdomen area.

Thermogenics are a widely misunderstood form of weight loss supplements as well. Usually they are promised to help you lose weight even if you don’t increase the amount of excercise or change your nutritional habits. The biggest problem with them is that usually after a very short period of continuous use, the user will develop tolerance to the active ingredient and will either need to boost the dose significantly, or change the supplement completely. Many people experience shaking of hands when they use these products, and general nausea, because they work by stimulating your adrenal glands, and increasin the amount of adrenaline and cortisol in your body. When used late in the day, the user will in most cases have problems falling asleep, or have low quality sleep. With long term use, these supplements will cause insulin resistance, which is going to further increase the yoyo-effect when one discontinues to actively lose weight.

This can all be avoided though when a proper diet is followed during the whole weight loss project, and after it. Most quick diets are based on ridiculous caloric restriction which will cause your body to be in a fasting state – this will spare protein and burn all the energy from fat that is available . After a long period of eating very low calories, your body will be in storing mode once it starts receiving more food again, and that is why many people gain back the weight quickly after a strict diet.

3 Criteria of a Weight Loss Plan That Will Help You Lose Weight Quickly

Muscle Builder Guy — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:15:13 +0000

You can easily lose weight easily with a well prepared weight loss plan. Losing weight can be achieved with an enough motivation and dedication to your weight loss goals. It is indeed important to have a weight loss plan that is geared towards your needs. No weight loss plan will work for everybody. There is a unique weight loss plan designated for each individual. Nowadays, it is difficult to find a weight loss plan that will suit you because there are tons and tons of weight loss plans out there in the market that tell you theirs is the best. One key point to consider in selecting a weight loss plan is that it must be easy for you to stick to and it can be attained within a desired amount of time. If you are undergoing a weight loss plan that is very difficult to follow, stop it now. Losing weight should be an easy task and it should not be a tormenting experience.

The criteria of an effective weight loss plan to help you lose weight quickly are as follows:

Promotes proper diet

This is indeed one of the most important criteria that you should look after when you are selecting a weight loss plan. Your weight loss plan should not require you to go on diet regimens that make you starve yourself. Starvation will not be able to help you lose weight but it rather puts your health at risk of having metabolic problems. Fad diets and crash diets would only make you starve yourself thus you will feel weak during the day and you’d opt to restrain from physical exercises. An effective weight loss plan considerably consists of moderating your food intake rather than restricting the foods that you love to eat. Having enough fiber in your diet is also very important. By far one of the best weight loss diets out there is a vegetarian diet because it is low in calorie and high in nutrients. A good diet contains the right amount of calories, proteins and fatty acids (omega-3) in order for you to be able to lose weight quickly and safely.

Easy to follow

Weight loss plans that are very simple are the ones that are typically easier to follow. Having a weight loss plan that is very hard to follow will just make you feel frustrated in the end. You would either give up or you will realize that your weight loss plan doesn’t work for you. There are dieters that somehow mix different weight loss plans together in order to lose weight quickly but this idea is completely wrong. If you are doing this too, you might end up causing health problems for yourself.
Has a timeframe

This is very vital for your weight loss success. In order to be successful in losing weight, you have to set realistic goals that can be achieved within a certain amount of time. One of the most realistic goals is by having a weight loss of 8 pounds per month. This is safe since the ideal weight loss is 1 – 2 pounds per week.

When selecting a weight loss plan for you, make sure that it contains these three important criteria in order for you lose weight quickly and effectively.

7 Smart College Weight Loss Rules

Muscle Builder Guy — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:47:18 +0000

If you find it very difficult to lose weight while in college, I can totally relate. When I was in college it was easier to grab some take aways when I was short on time and not to mention what exam stress did to my waistline. That’s why I have constructed a set of rules that made it easier for me to lose weight. Here they are:

Pack your own lunch
Control what you eat by packing your own lunch. That way you will avoid the unhealthy foods of the college cafeteria and take aways.

Watch your drinks
Make sure that you don’t drink too much – alcohol contains lots of empty calories that go sit on your waist and don’t fill you up at all. Stick to diet drinks and don’t have more than 3 drinks per night.

Prepare lots of healthy meals in the weekends
Prepare healthy meals in the weekend and freeze to use for dinners the next night. That way you will have a healthy waistline friendly dinner for the week, no matter how busy you are.

Snack smart
It is very easy to reach for unhealthy snacks when you are stressed or busy. Employ a smart snacking strategy by only snacking in healthy snacks like fruit, nuts, veggie sticks, fat free yogurt and raisins.

Make time for regular exercise
Book regular time out of your diary for exercise and see those appointments just like any appointment that you can’t miss. Make sure that you do the best exercises to lose weight and that you don’t waste your time.

Limit the fast food and treats
Include a cheat meal once or twice a month where you can have what you want and limit fast food and treats to that meal only.

Control your cravings
Control your appetite and your cravings with the help of some nutritional products – just read the precautions first.

If you implement these weight loss rules for college you will ensure that you don’t pick up weight and if you follow them together with a healthy diet and a regular exercise plan, you will start losing weight.

What are the Best Tips for Weight Loss?

Muscle Builder Guy — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:00:46 +0000

It is an interesting question that a surprising amount of people will ask at some time or another when they make that snap decision to lose some weight. They have probably read a bunch of articles on different websites or blogs but they are all saying different things or trying to sell you the latest must have pills or potions. But eventually, they’ll get around to wondering what the best weight loss tips really are and whether they are even going to believe what the see in front of them in black and white, or what ever the color scheme happens to be of the website they’re reading it on.

The short answer to this, and there really is a short answer despite all the thousands of articles that have been written and are still to be written upon the subject, is that the very best tips are those that will provide a means to not only lose weight, but to lose it in a healthy manner so that your body looks good, toned and slim while enabling you to keep that good looking, healthy body for a very long time to come.

Anything else is not a particularly good tip, especially if it means that you will have a high percentage chance of putting the weight you lost back on again, and some.

So what is this magical formula that evades most dieters and leaves them losing weight only to gain it again, then lose it again only to gain it again and so on and so forth? Well, the basic formula is not magical or secret even. It is very mundane and the reason so many people miss it completely is because it it staring them right in the face and is so obvious they simply don’t see it!

It is all about calories in to the body and calories out of the body. It is a basic law of nature that you cannot gain weight if your body is burning at least as many calories as you put into it through your diet. How you achieve that balance is up to the individual. But another pretty basic formula is that by doing sufficient daily exercise to keep your metabolism working to burn off the calories you consume through food and drink, then you will not gain weight. Increase that level of exercise so that your body consumes more calories than you eat and you will begin to lose weight while slimming down and toning up your body. The food you eat is important because it needs to be healthy, but it is not as critical as most diets try to tell you it is.

So there you have it. Probably the best tips for weight loss you are ever going to see and they didn’t cost you a penny!

Exploring the Cambridge Diet Phases

Muscle Builder Guy — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 03:09:24 +0000

The Cambridge Diet is a popular weight loss plan that is used fairly consistently in the United Kingdom for treating the morbidly obese. It isn’t as popular in the United States, in large part because it is much harder to find the necessary support system to see the diet through until the end. This is a very low calorie diet, and in the UK it is a phased diet that requires support from a Cambridge Diet coach who checks up on the dieter at least once, if not twice, a week and monitors their progress, watches health, and also determines when the patient should move to the next Cambridge Diet phase.

This support is especially important because the Cambridge Diet starts out as a pretty extreme very low calorie diet (VLCD) in phase one, where eating only CD supplements like soup, porridge, and shakes, the dieter only takes in 450 to 550 calories a day on the first week. As the dieter progresses, they move to the next phase. Each phase is based on a certain amount of calories only coming from the Cambridge Diet foods and supplements, while a few hundred more calories of very specific food can be added each week.

So while phase one is only CD supplements, phase 2 could be 810 calories, with the extra 200 coming from steamed veggies or skim milk. After a week or two of that, phase 3 moves to 1000 calories and adds a light salad for lunch and dinner. Eventually as the weight loss progresses the diet keeps moving from a very low calorie phase to a more reasonable “maintenance” phase of 1,500 calories a day.

While that is called the maintenance phase on the Cambridge Diet weight loss plan, for many people 1,500 calories will still result in slow and gradual weight loss of up to one pound a week. This eating plan is not one to take on lightly, and because of the low number of calories, it can be dangerous to “improv,” so if you’re going to even consider it, follow the plan as it’s laid out.

Keys to the Best Mixed Martial Arts Training Workouts

Muscle Builder Guy — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:12:15 +0000

Training to be a fighter in any sport be it UFC, boxing, or MMA, you really need to be fit. If you are not fit enough to last one round you won’t make it very long in the ring or the sport for that matter. You also will avoid injury by being in shape.

Cardio is important to improve your longevity in the ring. You don’t have to pick one type of cardio and do only that to get into tip top shape. Some types of cardio are: running be it outside or inside on a treadmill; kickboxing classes could greatly improve your skills; mountain biking outside or spinning inside the gym. Just to name a few.

Eating right is crucial to your overall health. Five small meals a day makes the difference when actively training. Protein shakes for two of those meals with fruits and vegetables are going to help you slim down and gain the energy needed to advance your training routine.

Strength training needs to be done daily. Although only work legs one day and arms the next. You want to give your muscles time to heal in between workouts. Free weights and weight machines, using both will give you the full body muscle you are needing to compete in any fighting sport.

Punching bags, heavy bags, speed bags, and kick boxing mannequins should be part of your daily training. Speed, endurance, and agility are the most important qualities to attain. You don’t need to look like Mr. Universe to be in the fighting world although you need to be fast, strong, and agile.

Working with a great trainer is highly recommended. Find someone who really motivates you. You don’t even need to have a male trainer. Sometimes a female trainer pushes me further than I would normally go as I am trying to impress her with my skills.

So there you have it the keys to a great fighting workout. Now get out there and do something every day and before you know it we will be watching you on the Saturday night fights.

Importance of Weight Training

Muscle Builder Guy — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:04:16 +0000

Everyone should include some sort of weight training in their fitness routine. Building muscle is an excellent way to improve your body. Many people think that if they lift weights they will get ‘bulky’ but you do not need to worry about that. If it was that easy to build huge muscles, everyone would be 300 lbs. Also, the amount of size and weight you gain is directly related to your diet anyways, not your fitness routine. It’s important to understand all of the aspects of optimizing your fitness routine.

Beginning Weight Lifting

If you are new to weight lifting, I would suggest starting with the basic movements; the bench press, overhead press, squat, and deadlift. With just those simple exercises you can get plenty strong and build plenty of muscle. It is important to start light with new exercises so that you are using the correct form, take your time when lifting and concentrate on learning the movement. Never sacrifice form for extra weight. Other exercises can be done to target specific muscle groups, these are called isolation exercises. Be sure to keep the focus of your workout on the big compound exercises. They lifts are a lot easier to get stronger on because to involve a large amount of muscle.

Getting Real Strong

If you are serious about getting stronger, you need to get on a program designed to accomplish this. There are many strength based weight lifting routines that are usually focused around the basic movements. On these routines you are working to constantly improve the amount of weight you are lifting. This method is called linear progression is one of the fastest ways to get stronger in any of the compound lifts. Think about the change in your body if you go from squatting 135lbs to squatting 315lbs. This type of routine is perfect for building muscle, because it focuses on low volume, high intensity workouts with plenty of rest to grow.