AFP Health Reviews

The percentage of obese adults in United States alone is usually very high, but it reaches astronomical proportions when the holiday season knocks on the kitchen door! If you have been struggling to lose some weight and are still unable to attain your weight loss goal, it is extremely unlikely that you would ever be able to get slimmer, unless you do exactly what I am going to say in this article!

As far as New Year resolutions are concerned, I doubt if they would work well unless you take all of the required action. Studies point out that out of all people who have taken a strong and firm weight loss resolution in the New Year, only 10% are able to keep their resolutions while 90% either break it and go back to their normal over eating habits or move from one fad diet to another with little to no success!

If you ask me, I don’t think it is prudent to wait until the New Year to start losing that excess weight. Some people gain a lot of pounds in the holiday season expecting to lose them all by next year, but that rarely happens, if ever!

If you really want to take a weight loss resolution in New Year, make sure to write it down on a piece of paper so that you will remember it al year long. Simply shouting your resolution standing on your rooftop on a moonlit night is not enough to make you lose weight, but it might have the neighbors looking at you strangely! You should put it both in your kitchen as well as on the refrigerator, the two prominent sources of all food ‘temptations’.

On another note, it is also important to take proper action to ensure that you reach your weight loss goal, otherwise your resolution would be nothing other than a piece of lifeless paper!

Most people cringe when the time for the required action comes. They make several excuses, such as they are ‘busy’, or don’t ‘feel’ like doing it, or that they would start it ‘tomorrow’ or that they would start it when the ‘weather gets better and warmer’, etc. There is no dearth of excuses you can make to keep yourself from losing weight, but they won’t help you reach your weight loss goal! The one and only basic thing that would help you lose weight is ACTION!

However small it is, you must take action right now. Remember that a journey of a thousand miles starts with one small step! Your action doesn’t need to make a huge difference to your body weight overnight, but it should take you one step closer to your weight loss goal!

Well the festive season has passed, and here we are in the New
Year, contemplating our lives and our navels. The question being is
your navel in the same place as it was before the season of over
indulgence? If you have emerged from 2005 fighting fit and still
fitting snugly into your cycling shorts, then very well done. If
however 2006 finds you languishing in your emergency joggers(the huge
ones at the bottom of the drawer) and still miserably picking over the
last of the novelty-shaped cheese snackos, then YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Help
is at hand; at this time of the year the papers and magazines are
crammed full of new diets, and the buzz word is DETOX. So should we
detox?

There are so many expensive products and plans on offer; 7
Day Detox diets, nutritional supplements, scientific-looking kits
containing herbs and exotic ingredients. They claim to eliminate
toxins that have built up within our bodies and many contain ‘diuretic’
herbs to encourage urination, and get rid of them. This all seems like a
good idea, especially if we feel sluggish or guilty about
overindulging. Thank goodness there is a wealth of products to get us
back into tip-top condition ASAP.

The problem is that there is
little scientific evidence that these things really work, other than
making us think that we are doing something healthy. The massive diet
and nutrition industries have created yet another myth, the Detox Myth,
encouraging us to spend money on pills, treatments, spa breaks, books
etc, but the benefits of the products are questionable, and the claims
are not supported by science.

Each day, normal bodily processes
(even stressful situations) produce ‘toxic’ chemical products which the
body then uses, breaks down or excretes. If you eat plenty of whole
foods and fruit and vegetables, stay hydrated, and exercise regularly,
your body will work efficiently to metabolize and deal with bodily and
environmental chemicals, but this needs to be worked at every day of
your life; and that is the naked truth of the matter. Most people just
don’t want to hear it; it seems like too much hard work and that it why
the quick-fix industries exist. They are selling us the belief that we
can behave exactly how we wish, and then spend money to make it better
quickly and without sustained effort.

So my New Year message is to reject the Detox
mentality! How much difference can a 7 day plan really make? Our body
has many different rhythms and processes some taking hours, some taking
months, and changing your life drastically for a short time will never
confer a lasting benefit. Be kinder to yourself, and take some time to
consider how you can be more healthy, then set yourself an achievable
goal each week, for example; week 1- drink 1.5 liters of water each day,
week 2: snack on fruit, week 3: find a walking partner. Healthy living
is about making gentle and sustainable changes to our diet and
lifestyle, allowing our body to acclimatize, and our tastes to adjust
slowly, until eating well and exercising becomes a habitual and normal
part of every-day life. This is the true path to a long, productive and
quality life, something that you cannot buy in a box, however much
money you spend.

Until next time, take care and stay healthy!

Vikki.

Do you have any friends and family who could benefit
from getting fitter and feeling better? If you do, then treat them to
free copy of this newsletter, forward it to them, and get them to e-mail
me with a request. E-mail getfitter@yahoo.co.uk
subject: newsletter request. Would you like to bring health into the
workplace? Get fitter now offers a corporate package, please visit www.corporatechill.com for details.

Are you struggling to find a perfect Christmas gift for someone this year? If so add a fitness twist to your Christmas shopping with these 4 fitness Christmas gifts. All of the items on this list are not only excellent presents but will also allow the recipient to become more active in the New Year.

1) FITDECK:- FitDeck is a set of playing cards with a difference. Instead of containing jacks, kings and queens each card contains an exercise for the user to perform. All the exercises come in three levels; beginner, intermediate and advanced which makes FitDeck an excellent fitness Christmas gift for people at both ends of the fitness scale. Those who are just getting started can learn from the exercises that FitDeck provides whilst more experienced users can use FitDeck to add a bit of variety to their existing workout routine. FitDeck is also small enough to place in a pocket meaning that the recipient can carry the cards with them at all times and use them whenever they have a free minute.

2) HEART RATE MONITOR:- A heart rate monitor is another fantastic fitness Christmas gift for both fitness newbies and hard core gym goers. Fitness newbies can use the heart rate monitor to measure the impact of exercise on their heart rate. Hard core gym goers can use the heart rate monitor in conjunction with the cardiovascular machines at the gym and measure any changes as they exercise.

3) SKIPPING ROPE:- A skipping rope may sound like a rather simple fitness Christmas gift. However, they have become a lot more advanced in recent years. You can now get digital ropes which tell you how many calories you have burned during a workout and even ropes that talk to you as you skip. Since skipping is a relatively simple exercise it is a great gift to introduce a new starter to exercise. A skipping rope is also a great gift for fitness enthusiasts as skipping burns a massive 750 calories an hour.

4) WEIGHT LIFTING GLOVES:- Weight lifting gloves are a staple piece of gym equipment. They prevent the weights from rubbing against the users hands, allow them to get a better grip on the weights and reduce pressure on the wrists. Despite all these benefits, many regular gym goers never get round to purchasing these gym essentials. So if you know someone who goes to the gym on a regular basis but does not yet own a pair of weight lifting gloves, get them some of these as a useful fitness Christmas gift.

SUMMARY

If you still have some last minute presents to buy I hope this list of fitness Christmas gifts gives you some ideas. The presents on this list are suitable for people of all fitness levels will be a perfect gift for most people.