11 Tips to Losing Weight

Did you realize that the average woman gains 1 1/2 pounds a year during her adult life? That means women can gain over 40 pounds by the time she hits 50 years old! Women have to combat the roller coaster of hormones, muscle loss and stress that causes a slow down in her metobolism. This wieght gain is NOT inevitable. A proper exercise and diet plan can confront these issues.

My metabolism-boosting plan can help you lose weight while building firm, lean muscle tissue, which is the key to a robust metabolism. Subscribe to my monthly newsletter at www.askcoachb.com and receive coaching on how to live a better lifestyle. As soon as you start my program you will sleep better, have more energy, feel firmer, and notice your clothes fitting looser.

Here are 11 tips to get you started:

Eat Enough - Everyone knows you have to cut calories to lose weight. But did you know that if you cut too much you will actually gain more fat? Learn what and when to eat with my program.

Eat Breakfast - Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Learn why and what you should eat.

Drink Coffee or Tea - Learn why these drinks can help boost your metabolism to lose weight. But there is still a little more to it. See what that is in my program.

Fight Fat with Fiber - Do you know what foods have fiber? Do you know how much to eat of them? Do you know why fiber can fight fat?

Drink Water - There are many reasons to drink water. Did you realize it can help you lose as much as 5 pounds a year?

Go Organic - It's not just a fad. Scientific research has proven the benefits of eating organic.

Include Protein - Body builders eat a lot of protein to gain muscle mass. But did you know that there are significant benefits of eating protein to lose weight?

Eat Iron-rich Foods - Do you know why iron is important to the body? Learn what are excellent sources for getting this important nutrient.

Get More D - Only 4% of Americans over 50 take in enough vitamin D through their diet. What does this mean and how can you make sure you get enough?

Skip the Second Cocktail - You don't have to quit drinking altogether, just cut back. Learn how alcohol affects weight loss.

Drink Milk - Not just because the dairy association says so. But what about the fat?

These are the type of things you learn through my newsletter each month. You are not overloaded with too much information. Just enough information is given so that you can understand your choices and how they affect you. Taking in a little each month will make it easier for you to learn the proper way to eat.

There are also exercises that anyone can do anywhere with no special equipment. The cost of the newsletter for one month is less than what you probably spend on coffee each week. Get in now at my charter rate of only $9.95 per month. You will be locked in at that rate, even after I raise the price.

Don't wait, subscribe now at www.askcoachb.com. Receive two free reports worth $50 when you subscribe.

Exercise Can Prevent Bone Disease

Osteoporosis, or bone disease, is a condition where bones become brittle and break easily. It is most common in women but can also affect men. There is an estimated 10 million Americans that are affected by this disease. A strong family history of osteoporosis is a big risk factor.

Peak bone mass is achieved in your 20's. From childhood up to about 30 years old weight-bearing exercises such as jumping and running can help build sronger bones. After 30 you should avoid smoking and excessive drinking. You should also get good nutrition including calcium and vitamin D. Studies show that weight-bearing exercises help prevent bone loss, maintaining your current bone strength.

Exercise must be weight-bearing to stimulate the bones to become strong and dense. Perform weight-bearing aerobic activities like running, jumping, racquet sports, dancing, basketball, hiking and high-impact fitness classes. My "Journey to 300" routines utilize body weight or dumbbells along with aerobic activity that lasts between 10 to 20 minutes per session. Low or no-impact activities such as cycling and swimming are good for overall fitness but don't help bone mass.

Older people should also perform flexibility and balance routines to avoid bone-breaking falls. Statistics show that one in two women over 50 will suffer an osteoporosis-related fracture, most commonly of the hip, spine or wrist.

Unfortunately there are no guarantees that this will prevent osteoporosis. It can help it from getting worse so don't delay another day. Start exercising and you will have a long and productive life.

Keep an eye out for my monthly newsletter coming soon. It will have nutrition information, great tasting receipes, my "Journey to 300" exercise routine (a new routine every month), sport specific exercises and much more. I guarantee you will lose body fat and start to feel better within the first month. I am going to launch it with a special offer of $9.95 per month. You would be locked into this rate for as long as you continually subscribe. The price will go up for new subscribers after the initial offer but you will receive even more information for the same low price of $9.95. I will also be throwing in a special report for free. Details to come soon.

Miracle Weight Loss? NOT!

I have heard a lot about gastric-bypass surgery and have even attended training seminars on how to train people who have undergone this process. There is a "menu" of bariatric operations to chose from. But this is not the miracle weight loss solution that everyone should be looking at. In fact, 4 in 10 patients develop complications within the first six months! I was hesitant to undergo shoulder surgery to repair major damage so there is no way I would consider someone cutting me open and messing with my intestines and stomache.

One procedure actually sections off part of the stomache to limit food consumption and then shortens the intestine so that less is absorbed through your system. Guess what? This means you have to learn how to eat differently. So what is the difference between having an invasive procedure to just eating better on your own? Both are creating new habits but the surgery is adding risk, not to mention the cost of the surgery and post-operative care.

After the suregery, they teach you how to eat tiny, frequent meals. A good trainer or nutritionist can do that without lifting a knife. You also have to take supplements to get the vitamins you are not receiving because of the quick passing through you intestine. You can take supplements without surgery ( I recommend a good multivitamin at a minimum, even if you are eating properly).

One woman profiled had lost 160 pounds after 15 months. That is 2 to 2 1/2 pounds per week. You can do that with a proper diet and exercise too. This same woman also said that after 7 months from the surgery, she had developed an agonizing ulcer on the new inner seam bewteen her stomache and intestine that required another operation. You wouldn't get that with a proper diet and exercise.

She was also rushed into emergency surgery one day when she doubled over in pain. She had an intestinal hernia. Her bowel had snagged on a slit in her abdominal wall. That wouldn't have happened with a proper diet and exercise.

She had to have a fourth procedure to ease the pain of the abdominal scarring. The gastrointestinal pain had become so severe she could barely eat. One day she couldn't flex her right foot then within weeks her limbs began to tingle, her energy evaporated and her weight plummeted. She stopped menstruating and she felt like dying. She had a disorder called bariatric beriberi. A new term based on extreme thiamine deficiency caused by the surgery. That wouldn't happen with a proper diet and exercise.

There is a general perception that this is a shortcut to being thin. It is not. It takes just as long as if you had a proper diet and regular exercise, yet all of the risks are eliminated. The media hypes this surgery and it is deceiving. They even go as far as to say that this surgery can help type 2 diabetes. Well dah...! If you loss weight you reduce the risk and can even reverse it in some cases. Why are they associating this with the surgery when it is the weight loss? They also say in one study that obese people who have the surgery extend their lives up to 7 years over those that don't. Again...dah...! Weight loss does that too. it is a sales pitch and a very dnagerous one at that.

Here are some more sombering statistics. The death rate for gastric bypass surgery is between 1 in 1,000 and 1 in 200. Other problems patients have had after surgery include vomiting, diarrhea, infections, hernias and respiratory failure. Up to 40% can suffer nutritional deficiency, potentially resulting in anemia and osteoporosis; siezures and paralysis have been reported in extreme cases. Some have even had bizarre neurological problems.

Here is the summary on gastric-bypass surgery. You can shed up to 70% of excess weight within 18 months but will gradually regain 20 to 25% of what was lost (because you haven't learned to exercise). If you are extremely obese (BMI > 40) you merely shift to obese. Obese can drop to overweight (BMI of 25 to 29.9). Only 10% ever drop to a normal BMI of 18.5 to 24.9. You risk all of the probelms listed above. You have to relearn how to eat properly as a lifetime commitment.

Here is exercising and proper diet. You can shed ALL of your excess weight within 18 to 24 months (depends on how much you need to lose). You relearn how to eat properly without starving yourself. You get more energy. You feel good. It is a lifestyle change that is easier and pain free if done correctly with a good trainer.

Final word here is to stop looking for the easy way because there is none. Human beings are meant to exercise and eat balanced, natural foods. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Cut out sugars and processed food. Trust me. You will be better off and will live a longer, healthier and more productive life.

To Supplement or Not to Supplement?

That is the question. The short answer any fitness professional will tell you is yes. But there is a caveat. You need to know what you are doing. You can go into The Vitamin Shoppe or GNC and they will sell you anything you want. You can even ask them some questions but most of them are not going to tell you any more than what is on the label.

It is a widely understood fact that we need to eat every 2 to 3 hours. It has to do with the thermal effect and maintaining a high metabolic rate. This would be a discussion on its own for another time. Let's just say there is plenty of scientific evidence backing this statement up. So, even if you follow this, can you obtain all of the nutrients your body needs from food alone?

Once upon a time this was possible. With all the modern conveniences, fast food and even faster lifestyles, this has become next to impossible. In order to receive all the essential micro and macro nutrients our body needs, we must take a high quality, well recognized vitamin and mineral supplement. If you are active and/or have a poor diet, then the need becomes even greater. Look for a good multi-vitamin. Ask your physician or fitness professional for a recommendation.

In addition to vitamins there are energy bars, drinks, creatine, glutamine, amino acids and even caffeine. I will address each one in order to give you the scoop and what to take and not take, when and why.

I see some people use energy bars and drinks to replace a meal. When I say they use it to replace a meal, they eat an energy bar or drink an energy drink instead of eating one of only three meals a day. The problem here is that three meals is not enough. Everyone should be eating 5 to 6 smaller meals each day. Then you can have the energy bar or drink to replace one of these meals only when it is not possible to eat a real meal or to supplement an intense workout.

Eating a high protein energy bar as a mid-morning meal after you had a morning workout is ideal for assisting a person to lose unwanted fat. A high intensity workout is one in which you have stressed your body for 60 minutes or more. For illustration purposes, I drink a protein shake one hour before my workout. I then perform a high intensity workout and have a high protein energy bar or another protein shake immediately after. I did this for a month and then measured my body fat percent. I lost 6 pounds and 1.3% body fat. That equated to over 4 pounds of fat!

Creatine is a good supplement for anyone trying to gain muscle mass. It should only be taken by individuals who are lifting very intensely. There are products out there that do not require loading. Loading is where you take a large quantity for a period of time and then reduce it to a smaller level. If you want to use creatine, stay away from the liquid kind. Creatine breaks down in water so if you have to mix it in water or take a liquid creatine, you are actually getting very little, if any benefit. Use capsules. If used properly, it can increase muscle size and endurance over the course of a few weeks. I used it during the month I mentioned above in order to minimize any muscle loss.

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in plasma and skeletal muscle. Studies show that taking 5 to 12 grams of glutamine following rigorous exercise aids in the recovery from tissue damage. If you plan on an intense one hour or more workout lifting very heavy weights, this would be a good supplement to take. Otherwise, there will be little to no benefit to you.

If you are an endurance or strength/power performance athlete, use amino acids for increases in performance. This only benefits those who workout vigorously and eat a healthy diet.

Finally there is caffeine. There have been studies that show that caffeine can enhance performance. This supplement has been long debated but the evidence is very strongly in favor of being a safe performance enhancer. Unlike most of the other supplements, this one can benefit you performing only 30 minutes of exercise. Caffeine will prolong fatigue by up to 10%. The best part is that this supplement can increase fat oxidation and thermogenesis without adversely affecting fluid balance. There are tablets that can be taken but a black cup of coffee can have the same effect. Just do not put cream and sugar in it as this will add calories, fat, and carbohydrates.

Supplements are a great tool for weight management and for maintaining good health. But it is only a tool. Proper eating habits and regular exercise are still needed. Always get advice from professionals who are more familiar with supplementation. Express Train Fitness for Men can give you information and supply you with what you need. There are also many vitamin remedies for every day ailments which we can tell you about.