The Dieting Mindset -- Keeping Focused on Your Goals

Millions of people all over the world are starting on new diets every single day. This is good because it reflects our society's general desire to be fit and healthy. However, only a few of these individuals will have the dieting mindset that allows them to actually finish what they have started and achieve the weight loss they had been reaching for. The rest will simply quit their diet program a few weeks or even days after starting it. One of the common misconceptions that people have of diet programs is that diet programs prohibit you from eating your favorite foods like that sumptuous slice of chocolate cake. Because of this belief, many dieters stuff themselves with these sinful delicacies the day before starting on their new diet. If this is the dieting mindset you are putting yourself into, you will never be able to succeed regardless of what diet program you follow.

For any diet program to succeed, one must have a healthy and wholesome perception of food and eating. Totally depriving yourself of your favorite foods while on a diet will do nothing to help you lose weight. In fact, this dieting mindset will only cause you to feel unhappy, which is a very common reason why people simply quit their diets. Eating these foods occasionally and in strictly regulated portions, is not only allowed but in fact encouraged to keep dieters feeling good about themselves while on the diet.

Many people find it hard to stick to a diet program because they are constantly feeling hungry. A great way to avoid this problem is to snack on fresh fruits and vegetables in between meals. These healthy foods will give you loads of vitamins and minerals and keep you nourished without causing you to gain weight. These are excellent alternatives to the typical calorie-laden snacks and desserts that we have all gotten used to.

Watching your portions will also help you trim down to a healthier body weight. For some reason, up-sizing food and beverage servings have become an American way of life. Because of this practice, the single servings offered in most restaurants and fast foods these days are actually large enough to feed two people. The next time the waiter asks you if you want to super-size anything, just say no, unless you are planning to share the meal with your dining companion.

One of the most important elements of a successful diet is having the right attitude and way of thinking. Before you even start dieting, you have to realize that you are doing this for your own good, to improve your health and perhaps your appearance as well. Never start a diet with the expectation that everything will go according to plan, because nothing ever does.

Be prepared for obstacles and temptations along the way, and have a plan on how to handle these unexpected events. Generally, having a positive dieting mindset is the best approach that you can have when it comes to dieting and weight loss.

Another common problem of dieting is that people tend to focus too much on the numbers. Every time they eat something, they have to count the calories. At the end of the day, they get on the scales to see how much they have lost, and beat themselves up if they didn't meet the daily target. An excellent way to avoid these stresses and pressures is to simply relax and just exert your best effort.

So many dieters find themselves dwelling on their failures and kicking themselves in the rear for not accomplishing more. If this is the dieting mindset you have, you won't even have the chance to succeed. In order to have certain success, the dieting mindset you want to have is one that is optimistic and focuses on the good things that you have achieved or experienced. If you can do this, you will be able to lose weight and have a healthier body in no time at all.

Author: Robin Darch, copyright 2009

Happy Tails Yoga: 3rd Annual Yoga Event Seeks Teachers

Patrick the Dog + You = Perfect Together If you live in New Jersey, you know the tale of Patrick; the cruelly starved and discarded dog rescued on St. Patrick’s Day who each day defies the odds by getting stronger and gaining weight on his skeletal 20 pound frame.

As any animal owner and lover knows, the care of Patrick and many other abandoned and neglected animals in the Garden State does not come cheap. It is through agencies like the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (http://www.njspca.org/) that these animals have a chance at all.

Happy Tails Yoga: A Cause for Paws (http://www.happytailsyoga.org/) was established in 2008 to raise money to assist the NJSPCA in helping to save animals like Patrick, but they can’t do it alone. For the third year in a row, Happy Tails Yoga is hosting their annual statewide yoga event and is looking for facilities and instructors to donate their space and time.

Making a difference to animals couldn’t be easier. During the month of May studios donate their space and yoga teachers donate their time by teaching classes. Attendees donate money to take these classes and Happy Tails Yoga turns over 100% of the proceeds to the NJSPCA.

Happy Tails Yoga was established in 2008 by Energy in Motion (http://www.einmotion.com/) and Rockaway, NJ resident Tiffiny Twardowsky as a way to combine two of her passions: yoga and animals. "Yoga is the country's fastest growing exercise. There's so much good energy and so many good people in this community. Nobody was combining the good of yoga for the good of animals as a way to raise funds," stated Twardowsky. "So I thought of leveraging the yoga community to help do something good for animals in need. Especially after hearing the horrible stories of animals like Patrick."

Studios and yoga teachers who would like to donate their time can register on the Happy Tails Yoga website (http://www.happytailsyoga.org/teachers.htm) or contact Tiffiny directly at info@einmotion.com. The deadline to register is April 31, 2011.

Happy Tails Yoga has raised almost $5,000 in its endeavor to give every animal the respectful life it deserves. Won’t you do Patrick proud and volunteer your time today?

Burning Fat: Myths and Facts

A popular myth is that there is a specific range of heart rates in which you must exercise to burn fat. Even many cardio machines display a “fat-burning zone” on their panels, encouraging people to exercise in a specific heart rate range. Have you ever wondered if you really have to exercise in a specific heart rate zone to lose fat? And what happens if you venture out of that zone? Jason R. Karp, PhD, a nationally recognized speaker, writer and exercise physiologist who coaches recreational runners to Olympic hopefuls through his company, RunCoachJason.com, sheds light on this issue.

Fuel Use During Exercise
You use both fat and carbohydrates for energy during exercise, with these two fuels providing that energy on a sliding scale. During exercise at a very low intensity (e.g., walking), fat accounts for most of the energy expenditure. As exercise intensity increases up to the lactate threshold (the exercise intensity that marks the transition between exercise that is almost purely aerobic and exercise that includes a significant anaerobic contribution; also considered the highest sustainable aerobic intensity), the contribution from fat decreases while the contribution from carbohydrates increases. When exercising just below the lactate threshold, you are using mostly carbohydrates. Once the intensity of exercise has risen above the lactate threshold, carbohydrates become the only fuel source.

If you exercise long enough (1.5–2 hours), your muscle carbohydrate (glycogen) content and blood glucose concentration become low. This metabolic state presents a threat to the muscles’ survival, since carbohydrates are muscles’ preferred fuel. When carbohydrates are not available, the muscles are forced to rely on fat as fuel.

Since more fat is used at low exercise intensities, people often assume that low-intensity exercise is best for burning fat, an idea that has given birth to the “fat-burning zone.” However, while only a small amount of fat is used when exercising just below the lactate threshold, the rate of caloric expenditure and the total number of calories expended are much greater than they are when exercising at a lower intensity, so the total amount of fat used is also greater.

The Bottom Line
For fat and weight loss, what matters most is the difference between the number of calories you expend and the number of calories you consume. Fat and weight loss is about burning lots of calories and cutting back on the number of calories consumed. For the purpose of losing weight, it matters little whether the calories burned during exercise come from fat or carbohydrates.

SIDEBAR: Workouts for Fat Loss
To maximize your fat loss, try these workouts. For assistance in designing effective, safe workouts, consult with a certified personal trainer.

Go Hard
A great way to perform high-intensity exercise and decrease your body fat percentage is through interval training, which breaks up the work with periods of rest. Not only does interval training allow you to improve your fitness quickly; it is also more effective than continuous exercise for burning lots of calories during exercise and increasing your postworkout metabolic rate. Try one or two of these workouts each week:

• 5–6 x 3 minutes at 95%–100% maximum (max) heart rate (HR) with 2-minute active recovery periods
• 4 x 4 minutes at 95%–100% max HR with 3-minute active recovery periods
• 8–12 x 30 seconds fast with 1-minute active recovery periods

Each of these interval workouts should include a warm-up and a cool-down.

Go Very Long
Long runs or bike rides (≥ 1.5–2 hours at 65%–70% max HR) that stimulate mitochondrial synthesis and promote the depletion of glycogen threaten the muscles’ survival, since carbohydrates are muscles’ preferred fuel. In response to this threat, muscles “learn” how to use fat more effectively and over time become better fat-burning machines.

IDEA FitnessConnect
Looking for a fitness professional, fitness facility, or class? Search IDEA FitnessConnect, the largest directory of personal trainers and fitness instructors, with the most verified profile information from the most trusted certifications in fitness.

Source: IDEA Fitness Journal, Volume 7, Number 5. © 2010 by IDEA Health & Fitness Inc.

Cholesterol and Saturated Fat: Understanding the Difference

When we talk about nutrition and health, saturated fat and cholesterol are terms we often hear. There's also a lot of confusion about where these nutrients come from and how much we're suppose to eat.

For starters, cholesterol is a waxy substance made by the liver. It's used by the body to protect nerves and make hormones, vitamin D, and other materials. Because it cannot dissolve in water, it's carried through the blood stream attached to a lipoprotein (ex. HDL and LDL). It's an essential nutrient, required by the body in order to function and survive. Your body is capable of producing all the cholesterol it needs but it can also be consumed through the diet. Cholesterol is only found in animals and animal products such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy. It is especially high in egg yolks and organ meats such as liver, brains, and kidneys. For most people, consuming too much cholesterol has only a modest affect on the amount of cholesterol circulating in the blood. However, the affect dietary cholesterol has on blood cholesterol varies from person to person and some are more sensitive to cholesterol than others.

Total fat intake, especially saturated fat and trans fat, plays a larger role in blood cholesterol than intake of dietary cholesterol itself. Saturated fat and trans fat are solid at room temperature and have a high shelf life. Saturated fat is found mainly in animal products but is also highly concentrated in palm oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil. Due to their high shelf life, these oils are often found in many processed foods like cookies, cakes, muffins and crackers. And even know the box may say "no cholesterol," there is still a high content of saturated fat. Both saturated and trans fat raise your LDL's (bad cholesterol) and are the main dietary factors in raising blood cholesterol. Trans fats are slightly more dangerous because they also lower HDL's (good cholesterol).

Blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease so it's important that you watch your intake of saturated fat, trans fat and to some extent cholesterol. The American Heart Association's Nutrition Committee strongly advises these fat guidelines for healthy Americans over age 2:

• Limit total fat intake to less than 25-35 percent of your total calories each day:
• Limit saturated fat intake to less than 7 percent of total daily calories;
• Limit trans fat intake to less than 1 percent of total daily calories;
• The remaining fat should come from sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as nuts, seeds, fish and vegetable oils; and
• Limit cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg per day, for most people. If you have coronary heart disease or your LDL cholesterol level is 100 mg/dL or greater, limit your cholesterol intake to less than 200 milligrams a day.

Related articles

• Trans Fat Confusion? (everydayhealth.com)
• A Heart-Healthy Diet: Eat the Right Fats (everydayhealth.com)