Wednesday, October 10, 2012

5 Tips To Help You Stick To Your Diet

5 Tips To Help You Stick To Your Diet

Getting motivated to stick to a diet plan can be a challenge.  No one is thrilled at the idea of having to sacrifice their favorite foods, spend extra money shopping for groceries, and spending hours in the kitchen each week preparing meals. 

But is this all just the sacrifice needed to get in better shape?  As someone who's gone from eating junk food every night to eating a healthy diet for the past 9 years, I can tell you that it really doesn't have to be that hard to eat healthier.  In fact, I consider it easier now that I've done it so long than my old junk food diet.  Here are a few of my best tips for sticking with a diet.

1. Focus on making your diet a habit rather than a means to an end.  This means making gradual changes to your natural way of eating.  So for instance, one month you focus only on swapping out sugary drinks with water.  The next month you replace your usual lunch with a salad.  Etc.

2. Learn healthy recipes and cook in bulk.  Preparing food in bulk is essential to save time and money.  This way you'll also always have healthy food available.

3. Throw out junk food.  Environment is stronger than willpower, so make sure you don't have any temptations around and, combined with the previous step, you'll only have good foods to choose from while at home.

4. Get a partner to keep you accountable.  You don't have to share your goals with everyone, but have at least one supportive person who you check in with.  Having someone to answer to ensures you stay on track long enough to make the new changes stick.

5. List all the reasons why you want to stick with a diet.  This can include the bad things about eating a poor diet and the good things about eating a healthier diet.  Write these things down, and read them while visualizing yourself experience the good and the bad.  This keeps your motivation high.

With these simple strategies, you'll be able to stick to a diet for as long as you want, ideally for life!  There's a great book on amazon called How To Stick To A Diet which has a lot of good info as well.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Tom Cruise Exercise Routine and Diet

Tom Cruise rocks a ripped and lean body in the new movie Rock of Ages that would make many men envious.

The first thing to note about Tom is that, given his new roles in action films such as Mission Impossible, Tom has certainly consistently been in fantastic shape. His fabulous work ethic which made him a celebrity means he continually trains very hard and makes it a goal to make himself ready for each of his various roles.

Why don't we's identify the things individuals could learn from this star with regard to getting a rockstar body.

Building Muscle:

While Tom's unique exercise regime elements aren't easy to come by, picking up from an assortment of sources and checking out past motion pictures, individuals can get a fair notion of Tom's method to training. Tom Cruise is notorious for his hard work ethic, regular working out practices, and the hours and hours he spends in readying for a part both in and out of the weight room. He put in 3 hours a day just on learning to dance for the part. Nevertheless don't think you need to be a high paid entertainer or devote many hours and hours training to obtain the exact physique he has.

The first thing to spot is simply that Tom does not actually possess a large body, but he does have a moderate amount of muscle. His muscle is featured by his lower body fat proportion which is the trick to achieving the "hollywood" physique. Essentially, his training for roles frequently involves cutting surplus flab via diet as well as cardio whilst conserving the muscle he's built in the gym through free weights along with bodyweight workouts.

Eliminating Fat:

The thing which is definitely equally important with regard to the rockstar look Tom got was getting down to small body fatness. This is accomplished through a combo of dieting (most important) as well as high intensity training.

Tom likes to perform a variety of things to stay physically active, this also keeps things from getting monotonous.

My preferred conditioning workouts with regard to accelerated fat burning and keeping exceptional health which may be performed 3 occasions a week are:

20 minutes striding as quickly as achievable. (much more difficult than you think)
3 sets of 50 reps kettlebell swings (ruthless)
Jump rope for 15 seconds ultra intenseness and pace, 45 seconds mild intensity, and repeat for 15 minutes duration.
Spring for 30 meters, rest for 30 seconds, and repeat for 10 cycles

Combine these with conditioning that can be done for 3-5 days a week like:

30 minutes of jogging
Go for an hour long hike on hilly terrain
Cycling for 45-60 minutes
Walk for an hour

Tom Cruise's Diet:

Tom doesn't eat super strict, but when preparing for movie roles he has been known to cut down his calories to as little as 1200 a day. Tom is about 5' 7 and around 160-170 pounds.

Tom eats things like tuna and chicken for protein, vegetables, and healthy fats. He generally avoids a lot of carbohydrates which helps keep him lean, particularly when getting ready for a role. The high protein and fat fuels his body and muscles while the low amount of calories and physical activity keeps him lean.

Tom Cruise's diet and workout routines are simply a part of his lifestyle and not something he does just to get ready for a role. Make it a lifestyle and then you can enjoy a great body for life.

Diet is the most important thing. A single desert can undo all the hard work you've done from exercise, but both diet and exercise are extremely important.

3. You actually do not have to build up a ton of muscle to appear like Tom Cruise or just about any movie superstar. Simply adding a bit of muscle in the right places (lateral deltoids, chest, and arms first and foremost) whilst reducing body fat will definitely give you that look. If you're training following traditional muscle building techniques, you may be creating things a whole lot more difficult on yourself.





Check out this site for more diet and muscle building tips related to Tom Cruise

Friday, June 15, 2012

Healthy Meals Made Fast For Busy People

Just about everyone these days is busy, and taking hours and hours to cook meals doesn't sound too appealing, but resorting to fast food everyday is a recipe for a health disaster.  That's why it's critical for anyone looking to get healthier to discover quick and easy ways to prepare their own healthy food.

Out of all the techniques available, I find the best one is to use a slow-cooker.  At first, this may seem counter-intuitive that a slow-cooker would help people in a hurry, but hear me out. 

Starting with a quick and easy recipe that takes 10 minutes at most to prepare, you can then set a slow-cooker with an automatic shut-off can be set to cook while you are asleep or at work.   After you return, you'll have several DAYS worth of food waiting for you if you cook in bulk.

So you invest 5-10 minutes every couple days to eat healthy.  Even the busiest people can spare that much time because that's still less time than it takes to drive to a fast food place and get just a single meal.

I suggest finding some of your favorite recipes through recipe websites or youtube and learning 5 of your favorites that you know you can make in a hurry. 

For me that's something like a stew with beans, mixed vegetables, and a meat.  I can dump all the ingredients and some spices into a slow-cooker in about 5 minutes and it always turns out great.

If you want some more tips on utilizing a slow-cooker, I like this squidoo lens entitled How To Make Fast Healthy Meals.

I also run another blog called Excuse Proof Fitness where I have an article entitled Healthier, Tastier, Cheaper, and Faster than Fast Food.

Oh, and don't worry if you suck at cooking.  Slow-cookers are so stupid simple to use that you pretty much can't help but end up with a delicious meal as long as you follow a proven recipe.

Stay tuned for more health motivation tips to help you stick with a healthy lifestyle forever!