How To Get Ripped Like A Bodybuilder, Fitness Model Or Action Movie Star!

How To Get Ripped Like A Bodybuilder,
Fitness Model Or Action Movie Star!

By Tom Venuto, author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle

The Legend And Mystique of The Ripped Physique
Being "ripped" is the coveted condition where your body fat is so low that muscular details never seen on "average people" start standing out in bold relief:
Ripped means muscle striations, vascularity, drum-tight skin, "cuts" (separations) between muscle groups and of course, the full set of 6-pack abs.
Quite simply, a "ripped" person is like a walking anatomy chart.
Few people ever achieve ripped condition, so when someone does get ripped, it gets attention and commands respect.
A ripped physique stands out in any crowd - even a fit crowd, because there's lean and then there's beyond lean... the place called RIPPED!
Most Burn The Fat readers already know what ripped means, because that word is part of bodybuilding vernacular and with the boom of fitness advertising into the mainstream (as in "get ripped abs!"), ripped has become a household word.
But few people know about the deeper intricacies and significance of being ripped, and almost no one knows HOW to get ripped, and that's exactly what you're about to read...
Ripped = Rare and Remarkable!
The average American today is not only NOT lean, they are actually not even average. The "average" American is overweight - not a normal or ideal body fat level.
As of 2010, the official statistics say 68% of Americans are overweight (at least slightly over their "ideal" weight and up to 30 pounds over their ideal weight). Thirty percent (30%) are obese.
Don't laugh at us, our international friends, because this epidemic is spreading to almost every corner of the globe, even Asia. Just add Westernization.
A few years ago I met a Chinese Gentleman at a seminar in Orlando and he was telling me that when Pizza Hut first opened in China, the line to get in went all the way around the block. He had never seen anything like it. Just this year, large fast food corporations have reported intensifying their push into China to make up for slower fast food sales in the States.
The point is, most of the world is not even average, let alone ripped - most of the world is fat, getting fat, or getting fatter.
Which means, a truly ripped person is a rare sight and getting ripped is a remarkable achievement.
People who think being ripped is not rare and remarkable are probably immersed in bodybuilding, fitness or physique culture, so they see it more often. The truth is, go out in the "real world" - go to Disneyland, go to the mall, go to WAL-MART, go to a tourist resort, walk down a boardwalk, and take a look around...
Go anywhere in public where the masses congregate, open your eyes, look around and ask, "How many people here are lean, muscular and defined?" Answer: scant few and that's exactly why we all gasp in amazement whenever we see ripped abs...
The Legendary Ripped Movie Stars and Action Heroes
Even when an actor - who is expected to be attractive and fit - appears ripped on screen, it's a big deal.
When an actor who had a "fit but normal" body suddenly gets ripped for a role, he becomes the talk of the town. Even the fitness magazines start writing about the celebrity workout or diet that produced such a mind-blowing condition and the paparazzi follows them to the beach.
To this day, people are still talking about Linda Hamilton's Terminator 2 "Ripped arms" and "ripped abs" like Brad Pitt in Fight Club.
Heavyweight bodybuilders are known for being ripped AND huge. But if your body fat is low enough, all you need is a normal or slightly above normal amount of lean body mass, and your physique looks stunning.
If you're ripped, you don't need huge muscles to look spectacular. And if you DO want to look bigger, getting ripped can create an optical illusion of more muscle size than you really have, at least in men.
Brad Pitt was not the least bit bulky, but his ripped condition made his modest muscle size look 10X more impressive. Bruce Lee was not a big man - his biographies put him at as light as 145 pounds and never over 165. But when your muscles are proportioned and you're as ripped as Lee was in films like Enter The Dragon, your body becomes the stuff of legends.
I wonder how many people taped up a Bruce lee poster when they were kids - or still have it on their gym walls today as adults? Stallone in Rocky IV or Rambo II? It wasn't huge muscle bulk and body weight that made these physiques legendary - it was being ripped!

Sly told Muscle and Fitness magazine that for Rocky III he weighed only 165, and in Rocky IV where he his muscles looked even larger, he was still only 173 lbs.
Like I said, being ripped creates a stunning optical effect even without a bodybuilder's mass, and those who are ripped often don't care about their (light) bodyweight - they're after "THAT LOOK."
Unlike larger bodybuilders, sometimes the ripped man flies under the radar, fitting perfectly in a nice suit, looking like a normal dude, but when the shirt and jacket come off...
Maybe that's part of the appeal - no one suspects such a physique is under there until the "big reveal." The look on a girl's face when you're a ripped man who takes his shirt off in front of her for the first time and she had no idea what was underneath... priceless!
The "Last 10 Pounds" Factor That Makes Getting Ripped An Incredible Achievement
Here's another reason getting ripped is such an amazing achievement: The leaner you get, the harder it is to keep getting leaner. Losing fat can be a challenge at any stage, but going from already lean to ripped is NOT easy, especially if you don't understand bodybuilding and physique athlete nutrition techniques.
You've surely heard about, if you haven't experienced personally, "the last 10-15 pounds." Those final pounds can be a bear to burn. That's no urban legend, it's true for a variety of biological reasons, which I've discussed many times in my articles, blogs and fat loss books.
Some overweight or obese individuals complain that it's harder for them to drop fat. But the fact is, it is easier for a heavy person to create a calorie deficit than a lean person.
You have a smaller calorie deficit when you have a smaller body, your metabolism slows down as you lose weight, your metabolism adapts with prolonged food restriction, your appetite hormones turn on full blast, your brain goes into "food search" mode, and it just gets tiring to keep pushing all the way to the end point - ripped!
I don't mean to dismiss the achievement of a heavy person dropping a lot of weight, not at all, I'm only saying that the first 10 pounds are almost always much easier to take off than the last 10...
... and burning off those last pounds is what reveals a truly ripped body - yes, even the last FIVE pounds can blur your muscle definition and explain why you don't have that razor-sharp six pack yet.
The Tell-Tale Signs Of A Ripped Body
How do you know ripped when you see it? Well, a very low body fat level is the key. It's not about doing a certain exercise or workout program. NO training program can make you look more ripped if your body fat stays the same.
Let me say it again: VERY LOW BODY FAT IS THE KEY TO THE RIPPED APPEARANCE. Learn how to reduce body fat, and you've learned the secret to getting ripped.
What's more responsible for low body fat level than any other factor: Nutrition! Not even the trainers dispute that. It's a fact. That's also why 75% of my fat-burning program, Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle is focused on nutrition techniques for losing your body fat.
How low does your body fat have to go? It must be very very low, but ripped is not a number, it's a look. You see it instantly. The physique just POPS everywhere and DEMANDS your attention.
As you look closer you can always tell when someone is ripped: Their skin looks almost transparent - it appears to lay on top of the muscle like a thin sheet of cellophane wrap. (In bodybuilding, they often say a competitor is "shrink-wrapped." If you ever heard that before and were confused, now you know what they meant!)
Not only that, the skin appears tight, as if the more ripped you get, the more the skin stretches out across the muscle bellies, appearing thinner and thinner and tighter and tighter. "Tight as a drum" they say!
This "thin skin" allows every muscle to pop out in bold relief. The separation between muscle groups appears as deep "cuts." Within muscle groups, you actually see striations, which ripple like waves across the muscle when you flex or lift weights. Even with the slightest bodily move, striations appear to "dance" across the muscles.
And of course there's vascularity - the veins. Body fat gets stored on top of both the muscles and the veins, so the leaner you get, the more vascularity is revealed. Too much is usually considered un-aesthetic, especially in women, but up to a point, veins add to the ripped look.
Men get more vascular than women (and a lot of guys like it), but even women see it subtly in lower abs, arms and sometimes the deltoid area when they get really lean... and of course, there's that Arnold-in-Pumping-Iron bicep vein, the trademark of a well-developed AND ripped arm.
When you're truly RIPPED and nearing PEAK condition, there's the tell-tale sign of the ripped condition... lower ab veins.
How I've Been Helping Regular People Get Ripped For Over 20 Years
If it's so rare to get ripped and if it's so difficult to achieve, you might be thinking that you'll never get even close to getting lean enough to look ripped.
That's mistake number one: Not believing it's possible for you.
I'm not going to BS you - it takes dedication and a lot of hard work to get ultra low body fat. If it were easy, everyone would be ripped. Like Art Williams said, "I'm not telling you it's easy, I'm telling you it's worth it."
But if you're willing to work hard at it, almost ANYONE can peak their physique and get ripped. I've been teaching people how to do it for more than 20 years - regular people, NOT just bodybuilders or models - and my system always works when it's followed.
New fangled "miracle" diets come and go every year and almost all of them fail - and they fail horrifically on those last 10 pounds of resistant fat. Heck, any old diet will take off the first 10 or even 20 pounds, but almost none of them get you all the way to ripped. It happens to almost everybody - the diet works at first, but stops working before you get all the way there.
And as I mentioned before, workout programs that claim to get you ripped are useless without the proper nutrition.
The single most effective fat burning system that stands the test of time for getting ripped is bodybuilding and physique athlete nutrition. It's the same system competitive bodybuilders and figure athletes use... it's the same program I've written out in my ebook, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle... and it's the same type of nutrition program I've been teaching to my "real people" coaching clients for decades...
Yes, I've worked with a lot of bodybuilders and I am one myself, But with this system, I've seen menopausal women and 50-year old men do it. I've seen busy executives and soccer moms do it. I've seen people who were 100 pounds overweight do it. I've seen people in the worst, harshest conditions do it. And they were all regular people - not genetic freak bodybuilders or celebrities with full time chefs and personal trainers.
If getting very lean or even Ripped is your ultimate goal, you need a program that will take you ALL THE WAY there, not leave you hanging with the stubborn 10 pounds. Bodybuilding nutrition programs like Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle are IT. For ultimate leanness, they have always worked and always will.
Mark my words, you will see bodybuilding and physique athlete nutrition making a massive comeback in the year ahead as more and more people are getting fed up with being shortchanged by all the worthless new diet fads that have come and gone in the last 10 years. It's all coming around full circle.. right back to basics.

Candida Diet - SYeast InfectionECRET Dietary Treatment Revealed

Adhering to a well defined candida diet is the first move for dealing with yeast infections. Recent research indicates that the right diet plan may be highly effective in preventing certain health problems and chronic diseases, including Candida infections. Before discussing the connection between candida diet and its impact on yeast infection, we’ll take a quick look at what candida infection is and discuss the specific conditions that bring it on.
Candida is the scientific name for single cell microbes to be found in small amounts in the most areas of the human body: the intestines, the genitals, the mouth etc. Although in the body that is healthy these microbes are kept in check by beneficial bacteria and an operational immune system, a combination of certain conditions can wreck this healthy balance. Candida can grow out of control and take on a root-like structure to damage the mucous membranes of the gut, invading the bloodstream and causing the well known symptoms related to yeast infection. As these microbes are mobile and can reach different parts of
the body, systemic as well as local yeast infection can occur.
There are many factors that bring on yeast infection. Some of these factors are related closely to food. Observing diet plans that can prevent yeast infection from spreading is the first and one of the basic moves in and make to holistic Candida therapy. Adhering to the following diet rules, in combination with other nutrition and lifestyle principles, can bring positive results to your general health and particularly to your yeast infection problem:
1. Stop eating a refined sugar and carbohydrates. Refined sugar (which includes simple carbohydrates such as molasses and honey) and other refined carbohydrates (such as white flour, white rice, any type of cereals etc.) are all
food for candida. Consuming such foods can make candida breed. To prevent candida overgrowth, use Stevia instead of sugar and use whole grain non-gluten products (such as brown rice, buck wheat bread) to replace refined
carbohydrates.
2. Foods that contain yeast or mold (like white vinegar, mushrooms, calm, dried fruits, canned vegetables and some condiments) can also encourage Candida and should not be eaten.
3. To fight Candida your immune system needs to be strong. Using antibiotics can debilitate your immune system and kill off friendly bacteria. Therefore, many nutritionists recommend that their patients stop using antibiotics and reduce intake of dairy products that may also contain antibiotics. Since strengthening the immune system is an integral part of preventing yeast infections, daily consumption of garlic can lessen the likelihood of recurrent yeast infections.

4. Dairy products and cow’s milk products in particular, should be avoided to because they can lead to allergic reactions create excessive mucus and take longer to digest. Some of the main east infection factors can include allergies and digestive problems. Better alternatives to dairy products of Cow’s milk are organic goat and sheep’s milk products.
5. To stop Candida overgrowth, it is important to maintain the right acid-alkaline balance. That means the right "PH" level in your blood. PH is measured on a scale that goes from zero to fourteen where fourteen is the most alkaline, seven is
neutral and zero is the most acid. Your body functions best in the range of PH 7.35 and 7.45 for acidity in the blood. Any extra acidity makes for a context where candida multiplies. An alkaline food plan, which is based on consumption of
alkaline forming foods (foods with calcium, cesium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, almonds, green juices, and most fresh vegetables etc.) with moderate consumption of foods that form acids (most meats, fish, dairy and grain products) can help you regain your alkaline quotient to better control candida growth.

6. A study by Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York revealed that eating foods rich in betacarotene (a natural substance that's converted into vitamin A in the body) could offer some protection against yeast infections.
Remember that Candida diets can be very good for halting all kinds of yeast infections, but that they are only the first part of a full holistic therapy.
This article is based on the book, "Yeast Infection No More" by Linda Allen. Linda is an author, researcher, nutritionist and health consultant who dedicated her life to creating the ultimate holistic yeast infection solution guaranteed to permanently cure the root of candida and dramatically improve the overall quality of your life, naturally, without the use prescription medication and without any side effects. Learn more by visiting her website:
Yeast Infection

Get the Body of Your Dreams with Fat Loss Factor Principles

Fat Loss Factor contains guidelines for a quick healthy lifestyle plan that can help anyone in any physical condition to lose unwanted belly fat. From the first principle of preparing for success to the last one, FLF implements a lifestyle of fitness, eating right for your body, and the mental attitude that it takes to reach your goal weight. The book is chock full of practical, down to earth advice.
Fat Loss Factor starts by measuring your basic statistics including weight, and body fat percentage. You are also asked to get photographs of yourself at the start so you can monitor your progress through the program. You�re advised to check your clothing at the beginning too, because you�ll likely find it to fit more loosely as you apply the principles of the program. Waist measurements are important too: women should ideally be around thirty two inches while a thirty five inch waist is ideal for men.
The program doesn�t take a miracle approach to get what it promises: a lean, healthy body that you can be proud of. These goals are reached through the consistent practice of proven principles of fitness and health. For example, the book stipulates early on that a change in eating habits is essential to your physical goals. Eating healthy foods that promote fat loss, metabolism, and energy is equally important to following the exercise regimen prescribed in the book.
Once your body is cleansed and fueled by natural foods, you are introduced into some basic fat loss principles for exercise. According to the book, building muscle is essential to burning fat. That�s right, you won�t need any diet pills or other trendy supplements to get the body you want. The book explains how muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue, giving you the ability to burn fat even when you�re not working out. By working in sets and supersets, Fat Loss Factor guides you through basic exercises that will build the muscle you need without bulking up.
By the time you reach the fourth principle of fat loss, you will find out that traditional cardiovascular routines are not what you want to do for your exercise. Citing scientific research from around the world, Fat Loss Factor urges exercising in bursts or what is called burst training. By alternating between high intensity and low intensity intervals, your body burns more fat and your workout is much shorter!
Readers will find Fat Loss Factor an entertaining and informative read that will motivate them to avoid weight loss and fitness gadgets and gimmicks and steer them toward practical fat loss methods that work.

Weight Loss Secrets for Man

By following the sedentary lifestyle, most men of today tend to gain a lot of weight. The main reason is accumulation of fat and the absence of a source to cut down these calories. Thus, following are some weight loss secrets that may come handy even in the ever so busy lifestyle.

Practice to stay active all the time
It has been observed that those men and women who have a high level of physical activity manage to keep their weight normal. These activities need not be of any special kind. They may be as simple as taking a brisk walk in the neighbourhood park, walking your dog, cycling, weight lifting, or even aerobics.


If you are crunched for time, some type of a high intensity activity can prove helpful to burn calories faster. Such vigorous physical activities may include:

1- Bicycling: This should preferably be at a speed more than 10 miles per hour. One may start off at a slower pace in the initial days, gradually picking up speed and then maintaining a good pace in it.

2- Opt for freestyle laps in swimming.

3- Aerobics are also one of the most effective ways to lose weight. While they are fast and therefore less passive, they are also fun at the same time.

4- Doing some heavy yard work such as chopping wood.

5- Weight lifting but this involves some very vigorous efforts.

6- Running/jogging at an even pace of 5 miles per hour on an average.

7- Walking very fast, say at 4 1/2 miles per hour, though this may vary from person to person.

8- Basketball that is competitive and therefore more active.

Never skip you breakfast
One must always keep this point in mind. A typical breakfast such as cereal and fruit can increase the body’s metabolism, helping you burn more calories during the day. It also helps avoid overeating later in the day.


Opt for a low calorie diet
You are what you eat. One of the secrets of keeping a low weight profile entails eating a low calorie diet. Most of the successful weight loss programs are reported to include least amount of fat in their diet plans.


While taking into account green leafy vegetables, fresh fruits and a balanced diet, cut down on eating fast food, aerated drinks, and all the unhealthy snacking habits.


Maintain a consistent eating pattern

Binge eating on a frequent basis is not at all a healthy option. Take out time to plan your diet and subsequently stick to it. People who are consistent with their diet are more likely to keep all that excess weight off.


Hit the scales

Researchers have proven that people who frequently check their weight have the advantage to catch even a small weight gain and thus, remind themselves to take steps to correct them.

Catch the slips lest they take the form of a bigger problem

Take very good care not to add a lot of weight all of a sudden. Those people who are able to prevent an extra pound or two from adding up are more likely to maintain their weight loss successfully over the long term.

 

 Source: daily medical info

9 Ways to Burn Fat

Everyone's metabolism naturally slows down with age. At 40, you could be burning 100 to 300 

fewer calories a day than you did at 30, says Pamela M. Peeke, M.D., author of Body for Life for Women and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. That can translate into a 10-25-pound weight gain in a year. But you can counteract that slowdown and boost your body's fat-burning capabilities by making just a few tweaks to your daily routine. The following strategies will help you bust out of a weight-loss plateau and burn even more fat.

:Take five

Do five minutes of exercise each morning. We all have a metabolic thermostat, called the 

metastat, that can be turned up or down, and morning is the best time to activate it. Each day, your metastat is waiting for signals to rev up, so the more signals you can send it, the better. Your best bet is a light, full-body activity like walking orpush-ups.

:Fuel up in the morning

Numerous studies have found that regular breakfast eaters are often leaner than breakfast skippers. "Your metabolism naturally slows at night, but you can jump-start it in the morning by eating breakfast," says Tammy Lakatos Shames, R.D., C.D.N., co-author of Fire Up Your Metabolism. And because both your activity level and metabolism decrease later in the day, it's a good idea to make breakfast or lunch your largest meal.

:Fill up on good grains

Whole grains such as brown rice, wheat germ, dark bread, whole-grain cereal, oatmeal and bran leave you feeling full because they take longer to digest than simple carbohydrates. In a study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School evaluated the dietary intake of more than 74,000 women for 12 years. Overall, women who regularly ate the most whole-grain foods — about 1.5 servings a day — gained less weight than women who ate the least.

:Pump yourself up

Muscle burns more calories than fat does, and decreased muscle mass can be one of the main 

reasons metabolism slows. Disuse can cause women to drop as much as 10 pounds of muscle between the ages of 30 and 50. Losing that much muscle means you'll burn 350 to 500 fewer calories a day. To build and maintain muscle mass, aim for two to three strength-training workouts a week. If you don't belong to a gym, try push-ups, squats, abdominal crunches and tricep dips off a chair.

:Power on with protein 

Add a little high-quality, lowfat protein, such as chicken, fish and egg whites, to your meals, and you'll help your body burn fat faster. "Because protein requires more energy to digest, it speeds up your metabolism, and protein is necessary to ensure against loss of muscle tissue," says Michael Thurmond, author of 6 Day Body Makeover.

:Get your vitamin "I"

That's "I" for intensity. You love to walk, but if that usually means strolling along at a snail's pace, your waistline will pay little attention. Instead, put intensity, or "vitamin I," into your stride. Pick up your pace so you're walking at 4 mph, or one mile per 15 minutes. Once you build up your cardiovascular fitness level, you can even alternate between walking and jogging. The key is to get your heart rate up and keep your workouts challenging.

:Say yes to yogurt

In a recent study from the International Journal of Obesity, women who ate three daily servings of lowfat yogurt lost 60 percent more fat than women who didn't. In another study, participants who ate three daily servings of dairy lost more than twice as much fat as those who ate less than that. "Calcium-rich diets reduce fat-producing enzymes and increase enzymes that break down fat," says Michael B. Zemel, Ph.D., lead author of both studies and director of the Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Eat three servings of lowfat dairy a day, like milk, yogurt and hard cheeses (Gouda, Cheddar and Monterey Jack).

:Get active after eating

Your body's metabolic rate increases 10 percent after eating, and just a few minutes of activity could double that boost for up to three hours. Within 15 to 30 minutes of eating a snack or meal, do five or 10 minutes of light activity. Take the dog for a walk, climb stairs in your house or do some basic strength exercises.

:Sip green tea

You might love your lattes, but if you switch to green tea, not only will you get a healthy dose of disease-fighting compounds, you'll also cut body fat. In a study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who drank a bottle of tea fortified with green tea extract every day for three months lost more body fat than people who drank black tea. Researchers at a health care lab in Tokyo believe disease-fighting antioxidants called catechins in green tea may help decrease body fat

 

Source :daily medical info .com

10 foods to boost your mood ( from daily Medical Info )

How to eat to match your emotions:

Whether you want to enhance a good mood or fend off a bad one, choosing your food carefully can help. To find a food to suit every mood, check out these 10 emotions and their accompanying snacks.

Sadness : If you're feeling in need of a happiness boost, try upping your intake of oily fish to boost your brain health and mood. Oily fish is not only rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, which can help ward off depression, negativity and mood swings, but wild salmon and tuna are good sources of vitamin B12, which helps to regulate the mood

Fear: Many people suffer from phobias, ranging from the common (like acrophobia — fear of heights) to the obscure (like arachibutyrophobia). However, it may be that your diet is to blame. Research suggests that folate deficiency may be behind irrational fears and anxiety, so try upping your intake of folate — as well as mood-boosting Omega-3 — by snacking on avocado.

Anger: Next time you feel a rage coming on, try reaching for some nuts and seeds to help calm you down. Research has shown that Omega-3 deficiency can contribute to aggressive behaviour of adult offenders and children with severe behavioural difficulties, while a Japanese study has suggested that zinc may ease anger in women. To up your intake of these nutrients, try opting for walnuts and flaxseeds, which contain both zinc and Omega-3 fatty acids.

Love: Got a big date coming up and want to get in the mood? Try some foods rich in zinc to stimulate the libido and enhance desire. While oysters are a famous aphrodisiac due to their high quantities of zinc, if you're not a fan of the slimy mollusc, try opting for shellfish, pine nuts or pumpkin seeds instead.

Shyness: We all need a confidence boost from time to time, and luckily you can get a helping hand from your diet to relieve shyness. Researchers at McGill University in Montreal found that foods containing tryptophan (an essential amino acid) make people feel more confident. Good sources of tryptophan include meat (particularly chicken), fish such as salmon and tuna, and legumes

Heartbreak: Many people find themselves reaching for chocolate in the face of heartbreak, and this may be no bad thing. Chocolate contains many chemicals to beat the breakup blues, including relaxing magnesium, calming anandamide and mood-boosting phenylethylamine. Try snacking on dark chocolate (in moderation!) for the most health benefits.

Anxiety: If you've got a big interview or presentation coming up, try replacing your morning coffee (which can make you jittery) with a calming herbal tea. The calming effects of chamomile are so powerful that they have been found to reduce symptoms of mild to moderate generalised anxiety disorder, so try a cup of chamomile tea to help calm those last-minute nerves.

Stress: Whether you're feeling overwhelmed by a busy day or are finding it difficult to wind down after work, try snacking on some blueberries to help cope with stress. Blueberries are high in vitamin C, which can help the body deal with high levels of stress. Also, the superfruit is packed with antioxidants which help to protect your body from its effects.

"Brain fog": If you're feeling confused, unfocused, forgetful, or like your mind is just running slow, give your brain a boost with a cup of green tea. As around 80 per cent of the brain is made up of water, drinking any fluids will help keep it hydrated and functioning at optimum levels. However, green tea also helps maintain alertness by regulating blood sugar levels, and helps protect the brain and cut risk of dementia.

source:health.ninemsn

How to Lose Belly Fat in 4 Simple Steps

Embarrassment is not the worst part of having a flabby midsection. That spare tire around you tummy can increase your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes (yikes!). Thankfully, you don’t need a complicated diet plan to learn how to lose belly fat. Stomach flab may be stubborn, but it’s no match for proper nutrition, hydration, exercise, and a can-do attitude.

Believe in Yourself

The way you feel about your ability to lose weight will play a major role in your success. If you’re plagued with self-doubt and negativity, you won’t see the point of sticking it out when things get tough. In order to achieve your weight loss goal, you must truly believe you have what it takes.
Losing weight is not just about vanity; it’s also about living healthy and feeling your best everyday. One thing that will help keep you in the right frame of mind is to think of your fat burning journey as a lifestyle change rather than a diet. If you focus on healthy living instead of dieting, you’ll maintain momentum and it will be easier to shut down those negative feelings.

Eat Nutritiously

Eating a healthy diet will keep your metabolism operating properly so you burn stomach fat more effectively. If your eating plan lacks essential carbohydrates, protein, healthy fat, vitamins and minerals, it’s not nutritious. To ensure you get adequate amounts of all of these nutrients, incorporate a variety of healthy, whole foods like vegetables, fruits, poultry, lean meats, raw nuts, legumes, beans, seeds and whole eggs into your diet.
As for counting calories to lose weight, I don’t do it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very conscious about what I put into my body. However, I refuse to spend my life keeping tabs on every crumb I swallow. When I get hungry, I’m going to eat—and trust me, I won’t be thinking about calories while I’m doing it.
I’m living proof that if you eat the right foods, and stick to reasonable portion sizes, you can lose belly fat without counting a single calorie.

Drink Plenty of Water

Water is often overlooked in nutrition plans. But this element is crucial for burning fat and maintaining proper health. Water helps metabolize stored fat and rids the body of excess fat and toxins. Water also prevent bloating and constipation, and helps curb your appetite.
Most people underestimate how much water they need, so they don’t stay properly hydrated. For optimum health, drink half of your body weight in ounces of water daily. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, you should drink at least 100 ounces of water per day.

Get Up and Exercise

When you start your healthy eating plan, you’ll automatically reduce your caloric intake and start to shed some weight. However, unless you add exercise into the mix, your metabolism will eventually slow down and ultimately reduce your ability to burn stomach fat.
There’s no way to target specific areas for fat loss. Crunches, sit-ups and other ab-specific exercises only work to tone the muscles. The only way to get the svelte tummy of your dreams is to burn the fat off. If you don’t, any muscle tone you achieve via abdominal exercises will be buried under the flab.
If you combine 30 to 60 minutes of moderate to intense cardiovascular activity with proper nutrition, the fat around your belly will melt like butter. If you’re out of shape, doing a 30 to 60 minute workout may be too much at first. It’s okay if you start off exercising for 5 or 10 minutes. Simply work your way up as your fitness level improves.
Don’t try to change your lifestyle overnight; Start by making small tweaks. In the beginning, you might try drinking more water, increasing your fresh vegetable intake and exercising three days a week. Once you get used to these adjustments, gradually build on them. Remember, small steps can lead to big results.
Sitting and wishing won’t help you get the trim tummy you’ve always wanted. Let the Diet Solution Program teach you how to lose belly fat and improve your overall health
.