Coffee Helps With Weight Loss

A study published in Phytotherapie showed that coffee really does help with weight loss.

Participants of the study took a green coffee extract supplement every day. The supplement was 400 mg. They took this supplement for 2 months.

After 2 months, those taking the supplement lost 5.7% of their body weight. (For example, if a person weighed 160 lbs before, they would weigh around 150 after 2 months of taking the extract).

There was a group who also took a placebo. They lost some weight, but it was only 2.8%.

This study proves that coffee does help with weight loss. Now, if you are going to keep drinking your morning coffee filled with creamer and expect to lose weight, it won't happen. If you find a good coffee extract supplement though, you'll be headed in the right direction.

Swanson Vitamins has a product called Svetol Green Coffee Bean Extract. It's costs $10.

After reading the customer reviews, I would say this study is very accurate. Everyone seems to be dropping the pounds with green coffee extract. The main ways it helps you lose weight is that it:

• Controls appetite
• Controls blood sugar
• Increases energy

These are all very important things when it comes to weight loss. If you are looking for a weight loss supplement, green coffee bean extract will help you.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/03/21/coffee-effective-weight-loss-tool/?

How Victoria Beckham Lost Weight

Victoria Beckham is always slim, but how did she lose weight so fast after having a baby?

She got her slim figure back in only 2 months through running. Victoria Beckham says she ran 6 days out of the week. Of course, she had help from a celebrity fitness trainer.

She didn't necessarily say how long she ran each day.

It wasn't just the running that caused her to look so slim. She also says that she is great at dressing a certain way that makes her look slim. Although she is only 5' 4", she tries to wear clothing that makes her look taller and more thin.

That's one way to get slim, but if you want a toned body it's best to go with strength training.

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/11771849-victoria-beckham-dishes-on-postbaby-weight-loss-secrets

Why Supplements Actually Do Work

Most people would have you believe that supplements for weight loss simply do not work. Yes, they do work.

First of all, it's ridiculous to lump all supplements into one category saying "they all don't work." Not all supplements are created equal. Some supplements don't work because they are created with very little active ingredients or low quality ingredients.

Once you find supplements with the right potent ingredients, you can be they will do what the clinical studies say they will do. Of course you should diet and exercise, but good quality supplements can and do help.

You see, our bodies are not as simplified as you would think. Dieting and exercising works, but dieting+exercising+good quality supplements works better. I'll prove it to you.

The foods we have today are not as good quality as they used to be. You are lucky if you find an apple that has the amount of nutrients it's supposed to have. The apples you'll most likely find have red dye on the outside, are coated in wax, are depleted of nutrients, and have pesticides in them. If you think "eating healthy" is enough, you're wrong. It's hard to find anything that's healthy these days. Even "healthy" foods are not as healthy as you think.

Foods are packed with refined carbohydrates. Refined carbohydrates do everything they can to prevent your body from burning fat stores. Fructose does the same thing. Almost everything you would eat promotes obesity in some way.

When you eat refined carbs and sugars, your body releases insane amounts of glucose. This causes your pancreas to release too much insulin, which prevents your body from burning fat and causes you to be hungry more often. If you do burn any fat, you'll have to work dang hard to burn it. Not to mention it increases your chances of getting diabetes.

Supplements can remedy this problem. Yes supplements. There are supplements that cause your body to control it's insulin and glucose production. A slow release of glucose and insulin is what you want so that you feel more full, you are able to burn fat, and you won't be hungry again in 2 hours.

Which supplements do this?

Fiber supplements. Fiber supplements are some of the best out there for this problem. If you take a fiber supplement 30 minutes before each meal, it will cause a slow release of glucose. It will keep you full for longer. Fiber does so much good for the body. It helps remove toxins from the intestines which decreases your chance of colon cancer. It reduces cholesterol. It keeps you regular.

Plus, it's hard for you to get ripped off when buying a fiber supplement. Most fiber supplements carry as much active ingredients as they say, because if it didn't you could easily tell. You know what happens when you take fiber!

Bitter melon. Bitter melon, or bitter gourd, contains 4 different compounds that are able to take glucose out of the blood and move it into the cells. If you don't trust this information, here are the ins and outs of the study. That means that bitter melon helps fight insulin resistance in the body.

You see, after years of eating refined carbohydrates your body develops insulin resistance. A body that's resistant to insulin becomes unable to utilize it. This makes it so hard for anyone to lose weight. Bitter melon is also a sugar blocker. All of this leads to better glucose and insulin levels, less hunger, and more weight loss.

Other herbs that help with insulin resistance are:

• Gymnema sylvestre
• Fenugreek

Fenugreek actually helps in weight loss for other reasons too. It helps your body increase it's lean muscle mass. More lean muscle means a higher metabolism. A higher metabolism usually means weight loss. This was also proven in a double blind clinical study. Fenugreek also promotes liver health. Your liver is responsible for metabolizing fat, so it's important to keep your liver functioning at it's best if you want to burn fat.

So you see, supplements DO WORK. You just need to find the best quality and right ingredients. They are not a gimmick. It's not a placebo effect. They work.

How To Boost Your Metabolism

Metabolism is basically the rate at which your body burns calories. It determines if you gain weight, lose weight, or stay the same weight. In order to lose weight, you would need a boosted metabolism along with a healthy diet. Here are some things you can do in order to raise your metabolic rate and start losing weight.

Get your sleep. Women who sleep 5 hours or less per night are more likely to be overweight. Not getting enough sleep will prevent your body and metabolism from being at it's best. Your ghrelin levels will increase which cause you to be more hungry.

Eat breakfast. Don't skip breakfast. Those who skip breakfast will have a slowed metabolism and they will also feel hungrier all day long resulting in over-eating.

Drink water. Drinking water boosts the metabolism. Your body needs water to carry out many activities, including fat burning. You have to keep your body hydrated in order to burn fat and lose weight.

Cardio. Cardio is a great way to boost your metabolism. Some cardio exercises you should try are walking, cycling, running, swimming, and dancing. Your metabolism will be raised during and immediately after your workout.

Thermogenic foods. There are some foods that cause a boost in your metabolism. Add these foods to your diet: green tea, dark chocolate, lean protein, hot peppers, and cinnamon.

Strength training. Building more muscle is one of the best things you can do for your metabolism. For each pound of muscle you build and maintain on your body, you will burn an extra 50 calories per day. Add 5 lbs of muscle and you're burning 500 extra calories per day.

http://www.shape.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-strategies/5-ways-get-your-metabolism-soaring?page=2

Increase Muscle Mass With Testofen- Natural Herbal Product

While it is illegal to take testosterone supplements (known as steroids), it's certainly not illegal to take natural herbs that somehow effect your testosterone levels. They do not supply the testosterone directly, but they indirectly help your body produce more testosterone.

More testosterone means you will gain muscle mass faster and your muscles will be larger. If you are someone who is looking to lose weight or bulk up, that's a real advantage for you. Swanson Vitamins has a product called Testofen that can help you if you want to gain more lean muscle.

Testofen is basically just Fenugreek extract. Fenugreek is a valuable, natural herb with many benefits. Fenugreek does many things for you including controlling blood sugar and increasing sex drive.

If you are doubtful of the effects of supplements, just read a couple of reviews from the Swanson Vitamin's website:

"This appears to be working ! I am not a youngster any more . . . 64 . And my strength and efforts in the gym are turning back the clock . Benching close to 300 again . Even when I can't get to the gym I really think that my muscles are getting some benefit ."

"As an avid weightlifter, I have purchased other Testofen products and the price tags are often twice as much. I thought this site had to be a scam when I saw Testofen at this dosage, supply and standardization only costing $14.99. I had to order it out of curiosity. I did, and it's as good as what I was buying from a reputable bodybuilding supplement company. This is Gencor's heralded fenugreek extract and there's a clinical trial to back up its effectiveness. Starts to work after about two weeks. Libido goes up, lean muscle mass increases and so does appetite. Love this stuff!"

To find more information about the product and to read more reviews on the product, visit SwansonVitamins.com.

How To Maintain Weight Loss

So you've lost a lot of weight and now you are wanting to shift into maintenance mode. This is where you change your routine so that you are no longer losing weight or gaining weight, but you are staying the same weight. This can be tricky. Follow these tips.

Don't get too comfortable. It's possible to lose weight and then get too comfortable and gain it back. What I mean is, you start to think you can slack off too much and before long, you are wearing those sweat pants again. Don't let yourself reach that point.

Don't be so strict either. It's time to stop being as strict as you once were. If you continue being strict, you will continue to lose weight. People may start to wonder about your health.

Find a nice medium. At this point, you've lost all the weight you want to lose. Quit eating less calories and start eating maintenance calories. Maintenance calories means you are eating exactly what you need each day. No more, no less. This can be hard, because even a slight error in measurement or counting could have you gaining weight again. You should eat about 150 calories less than maintenance to make up for any inconsistencies.

Exercise. Continue to exercise. You can't stop. If you do, you will lose the muscle you have gained which will cause your basal metabolic rate to drop. When that happens, you won't have the lean figure you had before and you may gain weight back. Maintain your fitness by changing up the exercises.

You may choose to do something less intense now that you are maintaining. You might switch from 30 minutes of intense cardio to 45 minutes of yoga. Do different things and do what you like. After all, you aren't trying to lose weight anymore so you should enjoy your exercise now.

Weigh yourself. Weighing yourself is very important. If you begin gaining weight back, your clothes might not show it until you're already 10 lbs heavier. You don't want that to happen. The best thing to do is to weigh yourself weekly and record the weight. Water weight is normal and it causes weight to shift.

Once you move out of your normal range, start doing something to correct it. For example, my normal range may be 138-141 lbs because of water weight. If I reach 142 lbs, I know I need to do something about it.

Muscle Building Herbs

If you are trying to achieve a toned body, you may think about adding herbs to your daily routine. Eating protein and lifting weights will work, but if you add certain herbs you could increase your muscle mass even more. Why not get a little natural help? It doesn't take more effort, but the results are worth it.

Chromium. Chromium picolinate helps your body use protein more efficiently for building muscles. It's a great supplement that is usually found in any multivitamin.

Ashwagandha. Ashwagandha is a Chinese herb that is great for anyone who wants to build muscle. It nourishes your muscles to help make them stronger. It's also great for those who do endurance exercises because it will help you push yourself without feeling tired.

Ginseng. Ginseng can give you that boost you need in your workouts. It also helps to build muscle by naturally increasing testosterone levels.

*Most of the herbs that help you with your sex life, also help you build muscle. Those herbs which treat impotence and increase sexual stamina, will also be great for those who want to get toned muscles. These herbs include oat straw, black cohosh, and horny goat weed.

Always take care that you are doing things in the most healthy way. If something doesn't feel right with your body, don't do it. These herbs are meant to nourish the body and to not be abused by anyone. Do not take more than the recommended dosage of any of these supplements.

Great Way To Stay Motivated With Weight Loss

If you have tried to lose weight many times and you seem to always revert back to your old ways, there is a great way to stay on track. You may have made a New Year's resolution about losing weight that you want to keep, but you know it will be almost impossible.

Three main things can really help you stay on track. Those things are tracking/logging, motivation, and accountability. You can get all these things rolled into one when you track your progress online. You will find supporters who will hold you accountable and help keep you motivated for success.

Here are some options to think about:

Tumblr. Begin a weight loss journal on tumblr. Follow others who are trying to lose weight as well. There is a great fitness community there who will support and motivate you to reach your goals this year. Just go to tumblr.com to begin.

Calorie Count. Caloriecount.about.com is a great weight loss community. There are free weight loss trackers and a blog section. The most useful feature is probably the forum where you can ask weight loss experts specific questions about your routine and any problems you may face.

3FatChicks.com. 3FatChicks is another weight loss community where you can support each other and ask questions about weight loss. There are many helpful articles there for anyone wanting to lose weight.

If I may make a suggestion, I think it would be most beneficial to have a weight loss journal on tumblr and have an account at one of these other communities for when you have a major question. Good luck. If you begin a weight loss journal, post your link here in a comment so others can follow you.

How To Lose Weight With Walking

Think something as simple as walking could never get rid of your fat? You're wrong. Walking is one of the best ways to burn fat and it's easy to stick to every day. If you want to know how to walk in order to lose weight, read these tips.

Walk in intervals. For one minute walk as fast as you can. For the next minute, walk slowly. Then speed up again for another minute. It will keep your mind busy and it will burn more calories.

Swing your arms. When you do your walking workout, involve your arms too. Swing your arms with the pace of your walking. It will burn many more calories during your walk. It's a simple addition that will add up.

Warm up. Walk for one minute, then stop and do a few exercises. Do some lunges, squats, and push ups. Then continue with your walking workout. Doing this simple step will warm your muscles up allowing for better flexibility during your workout. It also helps to tone your walking muscles.

Strong core. When you are done walking, do some ab exercises to tone your core. You will be amazed at how soon your stomach will flatten.

You can lose weight by walking normally, but adding these tips will speed up the weight loss for sure. If you are one of those people who need to see results soon for motivation, you should try out these ideas.

How Much Weight Do You Gain During Christmas?

This Christmas the average person will gain about a pound. But why when you step on the scale does it tell you that you've gained more than that? Most of your weight gain is water weight. The one pound that you gain is pure fat. The rest is just bloating.

Still, it's upsetting to know that you've gained one more pound of fat. What can you do about it? You will need to lower your caloric intake and exercise some.

To lose one pound of fat, you could:

• Unicycle for 11 hours
• Carry a small child for 24 hours
• Walk the dog for 18 hours
• Swim in the ocean for 9 hours
• Play a game of pool that lasts 22 hours

This is the reason why people usually do their exercise over a period of a week to lose one pound. No one has the time or endurance to try to lose that amount of weight quickly. Healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week. So the week after Christmas, walk your dog for 2 1/2 hours each day. You will lose that pound you gained.

Amount of Calories Burned During Christmas Shopping

Racing through the isles, fighting the crowds, you think to yourself I have to be burning some major calories. Christmas shopping (or any shopping for that matter) does burn calories. Everything you do burns calories. If you've ever wondered how many calories are burned during Christmas shopping, I'm going to give you some general figures.

Here are a few samples:

Female, age 35, 5'5", 160 lbs, will burn 249 calories from an hour of Christmas shopping.

Male, age 38, 6', 270 lbs, will burn 301 calories from 45 minutes of Christmas shopping.

Female, age 30, 5'3", 180 lbs, will burn 398 calories from 90 minutes of Christmas shopping.

These figures are accurate for the time that you are moving. The timer would stop when you stop to read a label or look at an item on the shelf. Granted, no one Christmas shops every day, but if they did we would all be a lot thinner. Maybe you could begin walking just one mile per day in your spare time. You would be surprised at how much healthier it will make you.

Creative Ways To Burn 500 Calories

If you burn 500 calories each day, you will safely lose a pound a week, which is great. In fact, it's something to cheer for, but how do you burn 500 calories per day? Here are some creative things you can do to burn those necessary calories.

• walk the dog for 158 minutes
• walk backwards for 79 minutes
• jog on a mini trampoline for 106 minutes
• throw horseshoes for 158 minutes
• jazzercise for 79 minutes

These figures are true for a female, age 30, 160 lbs, and 5'5". To get more specific information for yourself, you will need to enter your information into a calories burned calculator.

5 Simple Tips For A Smaller Waist Line

There is one way to lose weight, but many ways to get there. Reading various articles can confuse you into thinking that weight loss is more complicated than it is. The little things count when it comes to losing weight. Here are some simple tweaks you can make to your every day routine in order to lose more weight.

Fiber. You need adequate fiber in your diet for weight loss. Fiber keeps you fuller for longer and absorbs calories (about 90 cals per day). When choosing foods, check the fiber content and choose the ones with more fiber. If you still need fiber to reach your daily 30 grams, just use a supplement. You don't have to drink it. You can use fiber capsules like glucomannan or psyllium.

Walk. You don't have to jog or run on the elliptical machine in order to lose weight. Plain old walking is just as effective as anything. Begin walking one mile per day. It should be in addition to the walking that you already normally do during the day.

Limit snacks after dinner. If you normally snack after dinner, it's likely contributing to your weight problem. Stop snacking after dinner. Brush your teeth immediately if you have to.

Limit alcohol consumption. Your body doesn't need those extra calories on a weekly basis. If you must drink, opt for a lower calorie choice and do not over do it.

Green tea. Drink green tea with your meals. It's healthy in so many ways. It can help you lose weight through thermogenics. Green tea speeds up your metabolism slightly, whereas a coke would just add calories and do nothing for your metabolism.

If a female who is 160 lbs, 5'4", in her 30s, and eats normally each day follows these guidelines, she can expect to lose about 3-4 lbs per month. This is a healthy and sustainable weight loss with not much change to your normal daily habits.

Lose 20 lbs In 20 Days

Are your weight loss goals realistic? It's important to have realistic weight loss goals if you're in it for the long term. If you want to get results, you need to have realistic goals.

Think about the title of this post "Lose 20 lbs in 20 Days". For this to happen, you would need to eat 3,500 calories less than what you need each day for 20 days. That is ridiculous and impossible. Many people who want to lose weight might begin taking supplements and when they don't lose 5 lbs a week, they are upset and feel cheated. It's not the supplement, it's you.

You have unrealistic weight loss goals. It's likely that you have these goals because you have no idea how weight loss even works. How can you lose weight if you don't know how to lose weight?

Realistically, you can expect to lose 2-8 lbs per month if you are actively working on it. That's not a lot. So, in one year you may lose as little as 24 lbs. You need to realize this before you can begin to lose weight.

If you are 160 lbs and you want to weigh 140, tell yourself, "At the end of this month, I will be 158 lbs." That's a healthy start. It will keep you from being discouraged. If it seems too slow, answer me this: In one year from now, would you rather weigh 136 lbs or still be at 160 lbs? Then it's worth a year of hard work!

Weight loss goes a little something like this: Your body needs a certain amount of calories each day even if you do nothing all day. Eating less than that amount will result in weight loss. So for example, if you eat 500 calories less each day, after one week you have lost a pound of fat.

It does get a little more complex. For example, there are things that speed up your metabolism (the calories you burn) such as exercise, certain foods, and herbs. These can help you out on your way to weight loss. Also, you can't eat too much less or it's called starving yourself. For the most part, weight loss is simple.

If you are currently trying to lose weight, rewrite your goals with a more realistic approach and stop feeling bad because of slow weight loss. Slow weight loss is better than no weight loss and guess what? If you lose weight slowly, you are more likely to keep the weight off for good.

5 Tips For Keeping Your Figure During Thanksgiving

It's easy to gain a few pounds over Thanksgiving. If you tend to come back home weighing a little more than you did, here are some tips for you.

Water. Drink plenty of water. It will help to prevent bloating so that you can keep your stomach flat.

Fiber. Using fiber supplements will help keep things moving in your digestive system.

Detox. Taking a detox supplement after Thanksgiving will help your body get back in line. A great detox is Acai berry.

Walking. Walking in the evenings is a great way to help get rid of some of those excess calories you ingest during Thanksgiving. Take your dog with you. A healthy dog is a happy dog.

Switch it up. If you have been doing a certain exercise before Thanksgiving, when you come back switch it up a little. Try another type of exercise so that your metabolism will rise higher than before.

Avoid Bloating During Thanksgiving

If you're like most people, you tend to become bloated after Thanksgiving. Water weight can increase when you eat too much salt, don't drink enough water, or do both. It feels uncomfortable and makes you self conscious, especially if you are someone who watches their weight. There are a few things you can do to prevent and eliminate bloating that may occur during Thanksgiving.

Prepare. Before Thanksgiving even comes, you should get your body used to consuming more water. You should be drinking at least a few tall glasses of water per day. At first you will use the restroom more often and you will feel like the water is just running through you and not doing any good at all. In fact, it is doing you good and eventually your body will get used to it and you won't have the urge to go to the restroom every hour.

Diuretic herbs. If drinking more water isn't enough to keep the bloat off during Thanksgiving, get some help form diuretic herbs. Diuretic herbs help your body let go of extra water, which will get rid of bloating.

If you don't have time to wait for this to come in the mail, you can head out to walmart and get some herbal water pills in the vitamins and herbs section.

Potassium. When you are staring at your Thanksgiving feast, try to pick foods which have potassium. This will help keep your body water balanced. Pick foods like banana pudding, baby spinach salad, nuts, and anything with tomatoes. If no one is cooking foods with potassium, try bringing a dish you make.

Resist soda. If you can resist soda just for the holiday, it can help reduce your bloating.

Probiotics. Begin taking probiotics. It gets your digestive tract back in order so that you are less bloated and heavy feeling.

Fiber. Start taking a fiber supplement like psyllium. After just a few days, you will probably see a difference in your stomach. It helps to get rid of backed-up waste and keeps things moving along.

You may have as much as 15 lbs of excess water right now. Don't let it get to you during Thanksgiving. Give these ideas a try and you will notice a difference.

5 Skinny Habits

Skinny people tend to have similar habits that contribute to their high metabolism and thinness. They have ways of life that are in common with each other that promote weight management. Here are a few habits of skinny people.

1. Weigh yourself often. Skinny people tend to keep track of their weight. If you keep track of your weight, you are more likely to make wise decisions throughout the day and be more conscious of your eating habits. Keep in mind that your weight will fluctuate from day to day, so don't get discouraged.

2. Eat breakfast. When you don't eat breakfast, your body feels like it needs to play catch-up for the rest of the day. You will feel more hungry throughout the day if you skip breakfast.

3. Take your vitamins. When your body is deficient of vitamins, you will crave food and feel more hungry. Make sure you take your vitamins so that you can give your body the nutrients it's missing out on.

4. Drink water. Always make sure you drink plenty of water. Getting more water means less hunger cravings. You are less likely to snack all day if you give your body what it really needs-water.

5. An apple a day.. Getting fiber is essential to keeping the fat off. Make sure that you are getting at least 30 grams of fiber per day and that every snack and meal contains fiber. If you need more fiber, take a fiber supplement. Fiber supplements have been shown to cause weight loss and promote weight management.