South Beach Diet Phase 1 - Win the Battle

ByDanielle Nish

So you want to try and conquer the South Beach Diet Phase 1. Congrats! That's a big decision to make. We all know that the first phase is the hardest among all. No need to panic though, I am here to make it easier for you. Let's start by listing the food that you are allowed to eat. This includes nuts, seeds, vegetables, lean proteins and olive oil. As you can see this phase is here to eliminate all the harmful fats and carbohydrates from you eating menu.

OK, let's begin!

Get rid of unwanted food.

Get a trash bag and go search for all the food that is not in your approved list. Start with the fridge. There you will find most of your food that has no permission these two weeks. Don't think you throw money away, it's not like that. Imagine you throw body fat away, how does it sound now?

Also, I know you might have some secret compartments in your house with snacks and sweets. Go there and get rid of them too. You do it for you not for me!

Start shopping for replacements

Right now your house might be empty with food that you want to eat in the south beach diet phase 1. No worries head over to a grocery store and start picking up the food that you like and is allowed. As a word of caution: don't buy more than needed! Write a journal It might sound silly but I promise you it helps. Write down how you feel every day so when you finish you can look back and have a good laugh.

Eat out

You don't have to cook everyday. From time to time look for good restaurants and try out for example new recipes of chicken. For dessert if you think you're on the schedule you can have an apple, but no more than one!

All the coffee and tea in the world

In this phase you can have any amount of coffee and tea you like. But don't get overboard. It's not healthy to drink 1 liter of coffee a day. Also drink plenty of water so your toxins have an easier out.

More cardio, more happiness

You might know that cardio exercises are good for you health. It's true. But did you know it makes you happier too? That's what a recent study says. It claims that you can be up to 60% happier just by doing regular cardio exercises. That's great!

Stop after 2 weeks

Yes I know you knew. But I wanted to remind you. Going for more than 2 weeks can be harmful for your body since you need other nutrients too. All in all I think this is a good diet. Above all, I believe that you can make it through just because you took the time to read this article. My congrats!

Danielle is a person that loves to help others. She was overweight for many years but now that she resolved her weight problems, she is decided to help others too.

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Abdominal Exercises for Fat Loss?

I often get asked the question "What's the best way to get rid of the fat around my mid-section?" and people generally seem to be looking for a really unique core exercise that will "burn fat." I hear countless stories of people training their abs every day, but to no avail they still can't see that hidden six pack inside of them. Unfortunately, abdominal exercises are not effective in losing your love handles. Why might you ask? Listen up.

A recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research investigated the effect of having participants complete a 6-week regimen of abdominal exercises (7 core exercises, 2 sets each, 10 reps, 5 days a week for 6 weeks) and compared that group to a control group (this group didn't do anything). Prior to, and at the end of the 6-weeks, researchers measured body mass index, body fat percentage (specifically the fat around the midsection), and abdominal endurance (# of crunches) of 24 participants. At the end of the 6 week, there was no statically significant difference between the two groups in body weight, body fat percentage, abdominal fat, or waist circumference. Conclusion, abdominal exercises are not meant to create a six pack!!!

Now that I told you that core exercises are pointless, let me tell you why you shouldn't give up on them just yet. Core exercises are needed in developing proper core strength for everyday activities and for increased performance. They also help in transferring power between our upper and lower extremities such as hitting a golf ball, throwing a football, or any high-intensity exercises. Developing your core muscles should be part of everyone's training regimen, but it should never be the sole focus of it. Further developing your midsection will increase other aspects of your health, such as muscular strength and aerobic endurance.

Many people believe abdominal exercises will build a six pack because of the infamous "Spot Reduction" method. Spot reduction postulates that if you work out a certain muscle, for instance your abdominals, that you will burn fat from the same area, thus developing a six pack. WRONG!!! This method, as shown above, has been proved wrong in numerous studies. When your body wants to burn fat, it will burn fat from areas it chooses too, not where you want it too. Furthermore, primarily focusing on core exercises is inefficient at burning fat because they are such a small muscle group compared to other muscle groups (your legs, back, or chest).

So how do I burn fat so I can see my midsection? As I'm sure you know, this is a very hard question to answer and we will be looking into this subject in future articles but I will leave you with this! Leaning and toning down encompasses two aspects 1) Decreasing your calories 2) Increasing your exercises. I don't want to focus on food in this article, so here are some simple exercises tips to start developing your six pack.

1. Total Body Workouts: Exercises all your muscle groups to burn the most amount of calories

2. High-Intensity Drills: All out efforts (sprinting, cycling, and swimming) are greater for reducing body fat. Try a 10-sec sprint, rest for 50-sec, and repeat 10 times!

3. Consistency: No one sees results after 1 workout. If you want real results, you need to stay active every day!

Christopher Sunseri, MS Candidate, BS Nutrition, NSCA-Certified Personal Trainer. Chris is the owner of Camp Hurricane - Take Your Body By Storm.

Please visit camphurricane.com for information on boot camps in the Houston Area.

Please visit https://www.facebook.com/CampHurricane for our latest news.

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Will Lowering Calories Help Fat Loss?

Fat loss or weight loss is a huge industry in today's world. You see all different types of diets, equipment and gimmicks that will claim losing weight in days without doing anything. Well, the truth is, none of them work. You have to eat right and exercise in order to lose weight. However, there are lots of confusions in the weight loss world.

There is one category of people who simply say, a calorie is a calorie and calories-in minus calories-out will calculate your weight loss. Then there is this other category of people who say that you need to be more specific. Lowering your calories would mean that your entire diet may comprise of sugar and nothing else, but as long as you are taking-in less calories than you require, you can lose weight. Well, it is true. You will lose weight (not necessarily FAT, but weight, probably), but is that really healthy? I know, this is not practical but you get the idea. Lowering your calories is not a very controlled method. The type of food matters a lot along with the calories.

We know three different types of macronutrients - Carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Now all of them have different pros and cons, so you can't expect to lower whichever you want and lose fat. For example, simple carbohydrates (sugars) are the types of calories that our body loves, but the side effects that it brings are not great if you want to lose fat. There is a spike in your insulin level, which basically (at the end of the day) stores quite a few of these calories as fats for future us. However, if you eat the same amount of calories as proteins, then the following things happen:

- Increased thermal effect of the body as it is harder to breakdown proteins and more calories are used to break it down.

- No significant difference in insulin levels

These are just two benefits that are related to fat loss, but there are a lot of other benefits as well. The only drawback is too much protein over works your kidneys. So you need to drink a lot of water. Similarly if we look at fats, we get two different types of fats (saturated and unsaturated) but the same amount of calories. In both cases, 1 gram is equal to 9 calories and 100 grams would be equal to 900 grams but both have different properties. One helps you lose weight and other makes you gain fat so they are not entirely the same.

It is a tough job deciding what kind of foods will help you lose weight and what foods should be completely off limits. If you want to learn how to eat and what you, visit Fatless Formula

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