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What is Better for Weight Loss – Cardio or Weights?

by: Stefan Simonovic

Source: [Flickr]

Losing weight is no joking matter that’s for sure. Whether you want to get that beach body ready before summer hits or you’re thinking about joining a cougar dating site, but you want to shed a couple of pounds to have that perfect profile picture, you need to hit the gym first.

Then comes the age-old dilemma: cardio exercises or weight lifting? Both have their benefits regarding staying fit and healthy, but when it comes to weight loss, the opinions are mixed. That’s why today we wanted to discuss which one of these two types of exercising is better for losing weight.

Case 1: Cardio

Cardio exercises have been present in the gym society for as long as anyone can remember – and for a good reason. There’s a lot of variety in this type of workout, which means it can be refitted and repurposed to match anyone’s needs and preferences.

Regarding weight loss, which is our primary topic here, cardio workouts have been the go-to exercise plan for most people who want to drop a few pounds. It all starts with breaking that first sweat on the treadmill, but for the most persistent, it can lead to a plethora of great things.

What’s so great about cardio is that it directly causes weight loss. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that the more you run on the treadmill, ride the stationary bike and do aerobic exercises, the more fat you’re going to burn.

Furthermore, this type of exercise increases one’s stamina while decreasing the muscle recovery period, which ultimately means that your endurance and readiness will increase over time as you continuously do cardio.

Case 2: Weights

When someone mentions the gym, the first thing that pops into most people’s minds is “pumping iron,” as the greatest bodybuilder of all time, Arnold Schwarzenegger, would say. This is because weightlifting is mostly limited to the gym, while cardio exercising can be done pretty much wherever you want.

Still, lifting weights is by no means useless regarding weight loss. While cardio directly affects how we burn our calories and focuses on making us weigh less, weightlifting turns those same calories to good use and transforms them into pure, unbridled muscle.

Lifting those weights can do wonders for your muscles (obviously), but also for your posture, core strength and more. If you’re looking to lose fat while also gaining power and good looks, then lifting weights is for you.

Verdict

It’s pretty clear by now that cardio is the better choice if dropping pounds is your only goal. Lifting weights does the same thing with the added increase in muscle mass and strength but at a much slower pace. The perfect approach to these two types of exercising would be to do only cardio until you lose enough weight and then to mix it with weight lifting to boost your endurance as well as your strength and physical appearance.


About the author:

Stefan is a writer and a blogger in his spare time. He also works for First Beat Media, a company that mainly focuses on the online dating niche and similar services.
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Top 5 Benefits of Food Tracking

by: Stefan Simonovic

Source: [FreeImages]

Being healthy means different things to different people. Some people like doing sports, others try to meet people online as often as possible, and then there are those who do food tracking. Note that we didn’t say “dieting” there because tracking what you eat is an entirely different concept from being on an eating plan.

Food tracking is much less restrictive than any given diet and it provides us with the best possible insight into what exactly we are consuming. In that regard, here are the top 5 benefits of food tracking.

1. Better Look at Your Food

Tracking your food means that you should know exactly what you eat and how much of it you’re eating. Unlike many diets which only tell you which types of dishes you’re supposed to consume to lose or gain weight or just stay healthy, this method actually gives you all the possible information on the food you’re taking in.

2. No Guilt

It’s no secret that many eating plans revolve around “cheat days,” eating junk food as a reward and guilting you into not enjoying your favorite snacks or dishes. With food tracking, however, things are a bit different.

Since everything is about calories here, there’s really no guilt in treating yourself to a tasty burger or a bowl of ice cream here and there. Calories are calories, so as long as you’re keeping them at an optimal level and countering those junk foods and sugars with healthy stuff, you should be okay.

3. Self-Creating Plan

As we’ve said before, food tracking isn’t a diet or an eating plan. However, practicing it for a prolonged period will most likely lead you into creating your own plan that suits your needs and preferences the best.

Keeping track of the food you eat will, as mentioned earlier, give you a lot of insight about what you’re consuming. That being said, it also lets you know which foods are adequate or inadequate for your body, allowing you to create an eating plan that suits you perfectly.

4. It Makes Healthy Eating Easy

One wouldn’t be wrong to describe food tracking as a simple activity that has the potential to lead a person to many great things regarding food and healthy living. Just like it allows us to create an eating plan and indulge in our favorite foods without making us feel guilty, food tracking also shows us that healthy eating doesn’t have to be such a bother we all expect it to be.

Once you really get into food tracking, you’ll quickly realize that eating healthy isn’t that difficult. Count your calories, stay on the “healthy” side of food and your body will thank you.

5. Difference Between Good and Bad Eating Habits

Many people, unbeknownst to them, have either good or bad eating habits. Getting up at 3 AM to raid the fridge is a bad one, for example, but not many “fridge raiders” realize how much harm this does to them.

Differentiating the good from the bad eating habits gets comfortable with food tracking. Intaking 1,000 calories after 6 PM is more than likely to make you sleep poorly while having a hearty breakfast makes your day that much better – all of this and more is quickly shown to those that practice food tracking.


About the author:

Stefan is a writer and a blogger in his spare time. He also works for First Beat Media, a company that mainly focuses on the online dating niche and similar services.
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Hypertrophy and How to Avoid it

by: Stefan Simonovic

Source: [Flickr]

You know how when you meet people online, and they tell you that they visit the gym every day, but when you look at their profile pictures they don’t seem even remotely buff? And even though there’s a chance that these are old pictures or they’re just lying, there is also a possibility that they might just be avoiding hypertrophy with their workout.

Hypertrophy – or building muscles – is something all bodybuilders and most gym-goers experience all the time. However, there are some among us that want to avoid this process, whether because they don’t like how it looks or because they need to maintain their weight while increasing their strength or endurance.

With that in mind, here are a couple of tips on what hypertrophy actually is and how to avoid it.

Are you Building for Aesthetics or Power?

Hypertrophy is by far one of the most common processes related to exercising and working out in the gym. All beginners suddenly experience this when they initially start going to the gym, while maintaining constant hypertrophy can be quite a challenging task later on.

The process of increasing muscle size is a weird one indeed. It begins spontaneously at a certain age, and once we start visiting the gym, it provides us with quite a boost when it comes to the size of our muscles. At some point, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain the same muscle growth since our body becomes stronger.

Still, it’s almost a necessary process for anyone who wants to become stronger and better-looking. On the other hand, it should be avoided in certain situations – a topic we’re going to talk about next.

Why and How to Avoid it?

First off, let’s take a quick look at why you may want to avoid building muscle mass even though it’s a natural process that comes with working out.

For example, cyclists are well-known for doing endurance and strength training while bypassing hypertrophy because they need to be as light as possible to be the fastest on the track while still requiring all that stamina to last a whole race.

Furthermore, some people just do not like looking beefed up. We guess it’s a matter of taste, even though we can’t really imagine anyone saying that a buff guy doesn’t look good. Now, let’s get down to how you can avoid hypertrophy while still managing to build strength and stamina.

A good start would be to chop up your exercise sets. Instead of doing three sets of 10 reps or even two sets of 15 reps, separate them into six sets of 5 reps to make sure your muscles get stronger without getting unnecessarily big.

Another useful method is to take longer breaks between sets and workout days. Instead of giving your muscles only a short time to recover, ensure that you provide them a full or almost full recovery time between each set. This way, you won’t force your muscles to get bigger to keep up with your activity.


About the author:

Stefan is a writer and a blogger in his spare time. He also works for First Beat Media, a company that mainly focuses on the online dating niche and similar services.
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Top 3 Foods You Should Never Eat

by: Stefan Simonovic

Designed by Freepik

It's safe to say that most people out there are eating food that's bad for their health. They're consuming processed meat, sweets, sodas, and fast food on a daily basis. To be completely honest, the pace and the nature of this modern life simply does not allow them to grow their own vegetables and make their own food. These days, if someone wants to eat non-processed meat and fresh vegetables, they have to move to the countryside or date a cowboy. In all seriousness, a healthy and balanced diet is one of the most important things for your well-being. That being said, let's review the top 3 foods that you should never eat.

Stick Margarine

Back in the day, most people thought that margarine was a healthy alternative to butter. However, after many studies, scientists figured out that margarine is actually not that good for overall health. In fact, results showed that stick margarine is full of saturated and trans fats, which are extremely bad for you. The manufacturers use saturated fat because it is more solid than other, healthier alternatives.

Scientists and doctors from all around the world consider margarine to be pseudo-food that's been processed to look and taste exactly like regular butter. It is filled with artificial ingredients and trans fats which are known to raise your LDL (bad cholesterol) and lower your HDL (good cholesterol). As you can probably assume, this can lead to rather serious health issues like heart attacks and strokes. If you want to prevent these horrible scenarios, make sure to avoid stick margarine at all costs.

Packaged Pastries, Cookies and Cakes

Most people simply can't live without sweets. However, some of them think that cookies and cakes from nearby stores are healthier than chocolate bars. Naturally, this is a huge mistake. Most of these delicious products you see on the shelves of your local convenience store are actually made of added sugar, refined wheat flour, and added fats. Stuffing cookies and pastries with these unhealthy ingredients provides them with a longer shelf-life and this process is called partial hydrogenation. This basically means that these sweets are full of trans fats, which, like we said before, are very bad for your cholesterol. These products have no essential nutrients, but they're full of artificial ingredients and calories. Also, consuming this food on a daily basis can cause Type 2 diabetes.

Deep Fried Food

No, not the tasty French fries? Unfortunately, yes! The delicious fries and many other deep-fried foods are extremely bad for your health. First of all, preparing food on such high temperatures releases certain toxins that are not welcome in a human body. Also, the fat from fried food goes straight to your waist and it can cause serious health issues like stroke and cancer. This type of food has been linked to breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancer. On top of that, eating deep fried food on a regular basis may clog your arteries which can ultimately lead to nasty cardiovascular diseases.

About the author:

Stefan is a writer and a blogger in his spare time. He also works for First Beat Media, a company that mainly focuses on the online dating niche and similar services.
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Depression and Being out of Shape – How to Start Working out Again

by: Stefan Simonovic

Designed by Freepik

Being mindful from one moment to the next about what we do is key to staying healthy both physically and mentally. Unhealthy habits that threaten to permanently damage our health need to be eliminated or at least brought down to an acceptable level. Not surprisingly, this is much easier said than done, but there are still little tricks we can use to direct our minds towards constructive behaviour, such as getting back in shape. Follow our tips and tricks for embracing physical activity, and ditch BBW dating for good (not that we have anything against it per se).

1: Choose The Right Activity

Going for a swim every morning to the hippest pool in town where everyone’s got a perfect tan and out-of-this-world physique is probably not the greatest idea to start with, but ditching the car every chance you get and walking most certainly is. The same goes for the elevator, escalator and any motors that transport you from point A to point B. Walk after work with a friend who is crazy for long hiking tours and give yourself little missions that are best achieved by walking. Once you start to feel like you need more exercise, consider introducing cycling or actually joining the gym.

2: Points for Cycling

Cycling is not only popular right now so you’ll be super trendy seen on two wheels (again, sans motor), but it’s also great cardio. It will get your heart rate going and you’ll break a sweat, kicking off a whole range of reactions in the body, starting with the increased production of happy hormones that will make you feel better almost instantly. Needless to say, you’ll develop quads of steel and your stamina is bound to increase. Your entire body will thank you, starting with your metabolism which will see a boost, followed by your immune system, which will be better equipped to fight off infections.

3: Reaching Gym Level

Fighting depression and getting back into shape doesn’t mean focusing on just one activity, but actually building new habits in your life around different physical activities, such as walking to get a manicure instead of driving, and ditching the car for a bicycle every chance you get. At one point, you’ll feel like your walking and cycling are just not enough, and you’ll love this point so. This is precisely where you’ll wish to join a gym, take up tennis or check out the schedule down at the pool. Also, you’ll lose weight as well, so it will be time for shopping for new (oh so sexy) gym clothes and activewear. Not only will you start to feel better about yourself and your fitness level, but you’ll want to show your improvements and fruits of your hard labor to the world.

4: Sticking To Your Routine

Leave little cues around the house before it’s time to hit the gym, such as a gym bag hanging on the doorknob of your front door, and once you actually complete your workout, reward yourself for following through by playing your favorite song loudly or giving yourself a 20-minute time-out from your daily cares. If you happen to miss the gym one day, don’t be too hard on yourself because in the grand scheme of things, that one day is meaningless compared to what you’ve already achieved, and the heights you have yet to reach.


About the author:

Stefan is a writer and a blogger in his spare time. He also works for First Beat Media, a company that mainly focuses on the online dating niche and similar services.
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9 Reasons Why Women Struggle To Lose Weight

by: Stefan Simonovic

Credit: unleashyourthinreviews.org

There comes a time in every woman’s life when weight becomes an issue, but more often than not, losing those extra pounds is such a headache that it can turn a happy-go-lucky girl into a whining and miserable shrew. There are various reasons why this is so, and today we outline the top 9 in the hopes of making life a little easier for all those ladies sick of BBW dating, plus-size stores, and stick figures who seem to have it all.

#1: Healthy Appetite

If you have a good appetite, it’s not fun to watch your portion sizes or what you eat. On the other hand, balance is key to healthy living no matter which sphere of life you focus on.

#2: Your Medication Is To Blame

Lots of women are on various sorts of medications for anything from migraines, painful joints and vitamin deficiencies to more serious conditions, such as diabetes or neurological problems. Almost all medications have some side effects, and for women those usually include weight gain.

#3: Not Enough Exercise

Regular exercise requires good health and enough time when we feel fresh enough to give it our best or at least our 60-70 percent, and most of us don't have that luxury. As so many women face various sorts of health problems that prevent them from exercising, coupled with a lack of time and energy, the result is simply physical inactivity despite all of our good will to be as active as possible.

#4: Skipping Meals

Steady, speedy and healthy weight loss requires discipline not only about what is consumed, but when. Three meals a day are mandatory for anyone wishing to be at their optimal weight, and one thing that kills most diets and weight loss attempts is inadequate or missed breakfast.

#5: Drinking Alcohol

Although from a medical point of view, there is nothing wrong with drinking moderate amounts of alcohol every once in a while, when trying to lose weight, alcohol can result in calorie 'overdose' and sabotage all the hard work put into dieting.

#6: Not Enough Sleep

The reason why not getting enough sleep prevents weight loss is twofold. First, you can’t eat when you’re sleeping, right? And second, sleep deprivation leads to increased cortisol production. Cortisol is a stress hormone that not only 'begs' for comfort food, but recent studies have shown that it also increases appetite.

#7: Thyroid Problems

Women of all ages face thyroid gland problems that affect their weight. Although this is treated with medication, so many women still can't seem to shed off those pounds they put on before their thyroid was placed under control.

#8: Stress Is The Enemy

Like we said before, when you’re under stress your body produces higher levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that affects appetite. Even if you don’t feel particularly hungry, stress often leads to mindless snacking, especially in the evening and at night.

#9: Not Eating Enough

Sounds nuts, but many women can’t lose weight not because they’re eating too much, but because they’re just not eating enough. When a woman consumes less than 1,200 calories a day, her body goes into starvation mode, which slows the metabolism, and takes that much longer to burn each calorie.


About the author:

Stefan is a writer and a blogger in his spare time. He also works for First Beat Media, a company that mainly focuses on the online dating niche and similar services.
Read more ...

Why Is Belly Fat So Dangerous?

by: Stefan Simonovic



Not all fat is created equal, and no one knows this better than BBW singles. Being overweight and having a "spare tire” around your belly is not quite the same thing because that “spare tire” puts you at a higher risk of all sorts of diseases, from heart disease and diabetes to various types of cancers. Today, we focus on the belly fat, also called visceral fat, in an attempt to motivate you to toss those chips out the window and start to appreciate almonds, for instance, instead.

Belly Fat Produces Toxins

Although called Buddha belly as a joke, there is nothing funny about those extra pounds stashed in your mid-section. Belly fat actually produces toxins that negatively affect the way your body works, making you more prone to heart disease and less sensitive to insulin, which can lead to diabetes. These toxins include chemicals called cytokines, which have been linked to colon, pancreatic, and esophagus cancer in recent years.

Belly Fat Is Easy To Detect

You might not be seriously overweight, and have a little Buddha belly tucked away under an oversized sweater for nobody to see, giving you a false sense of security, but even if you don't have a weight problem per se, having belly fat is a kind of thing that needs to be taken seriously. However, if you just grab a tape measure and measure the size of your waist, you can tell whether you're at risk or can sit back and enjoy a few more years of juicy burgers. For women, a waist measure of 35 inches or more is a red flag, and for men, a waist measure of 40 inches or more is cause for concern. Also, if your old pants don't fit anymore, and you need to move a size up even though you haven't noticed any weight gain, that's a clear sign you need to watch what you eat and start exercising more.

Foods That Combat It

Drinks packed with sugar, such as store-bought fruit juice or soda should have no place in your kitchen. Make sure you eat your veggies, particularly leafy greens, such as broccoli, instead of the starchy kind, such as potatoes or corn. This is a no-brainer - give up processed foods altogether. When you’re in a rush and need a meal quickly, eating raw veggies and a bag of nuts and seeds can do the trick until you have time to prepare that fish that's waiting for you in the fridge.

Muscles Throw The Final Punch

Muscles are fat’s biggest enemies, and if your muscles are strong, your belly fat won't stand a chance. This doesn't mean you need to turn into the Hulk, but it does mean you should do strength training twice a week coupled with moderate exercise 5 times a week, such as walking or cycling for half an hour. If you’re stuck behind a desk for 8 or 9 hours a day, no amount of exercise will help you. You need to get up every 20 minutes to half an hour, take a stroll around the office, do mild office stretches, and move in your chair as much as possible to stay active. Ditch the elevator and take the stairs, and just be mindful of what you're doing with the aim to be as active as possible.


About the author:

Stefan is a writer and a blogger in his spare time. He also works for First Beat Media, a company that mainly focuses on the online dating niche and similar services.
Read more ...

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