Is Raw Food Diet Good for Losing Weight?

Obesity has taken the shape of an epidemic in the modern world. More and more people are falling prey to obesity due to an unhealthy lifestyle and bad food habits. But obesity can have disastrous effects on a person’s health.




Weight gain doesn’t necessarily come because of the number of calories you eat. It is what type of calories you eat. When you eat foods that are highly processed they cause digestive disorders which cause you to gain weight.



A raw food diet has proven to be of great aid in this regard after people following different variations of the diet have claimed drastic weight loss in a relatively short period of time, and without feeling hungry or miserable like you would with most diets. There is an ample amount of truth to this claim as the diet practitioners have proven that the raw food diet truly helps in losing weight quickly and effectively.



Going on a Raw Food Diet will help your body to cleanse itself of all the junk that has been piling up in your organs, intestines and of course your fat cells. Due to the nature of the digestive and cleansing enzymes in the food itself, the more you eat the more cleansing occurs. There is no need to worry about consuming too many calories because they will not get stored as fat.



Some medical experts see great benefits in the raw food diet. In addition to enabling weight loss, the diet can ostensibly increase one’s metabolism, making calorie burning easier. Some medical experts have also suggested that a raw food diet is a good antidote to eating disorders. In addition, it can help make your immune system stronger, and help the body rid itself of harmful toxins.



Starting a Raw Food Diet is fairly simple. Some of the best raw foods you can eat are obviously fruits and vegetables, but there are others such as seeds, nuts, grains, beans and sprouts. If you are trying to lose weight fast, you will want to know about some of the raw foods that have the best fat and calorie burning properties.



For fruits, these include apples, grapefruits, mangos, pears, peaches, lemons and cherries. These vegetables are great for a midmorning or mid afternoon snack to stave off those hunger attacks.



For vegetables, artichokes, brussel sprout, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, cucumber, red pepper, mushrooms and cabbage are all great foods to help promote fat and calorie burning. As far as herbs, garlic and parsley leaf are great additions to your raw foods to add additional flavor. This is one of the best natural weight loss.



If you decide a raw food diet is for you, you might consider supplements to compensate for the nutrients this diet is lacking. Some supplements to consider include vitamin B12, copper, zinc, and chromium.



Another thing to consider when taking up a raw food diet is that most of the fruits and vegetables that you see in your supermarket are loaded with pesticides. Therefore, it might be best to consume only organic raw food.

Morris County Fitness Expert Carey Yang Interviewed in Suburban Trends on Exercise Benefits of Gardening

Gardening is one of the most popular past-time hobbies in the world. It helps spruce up your home or property. Some people plant their own fruits and vegetables. Gardening has many health benefits for your body and mind.

I was recently interviewed and quoted in Suburban Trends on “Mend your body & mind in the garden”.

Here is a full write-up by the correspondent KARA ROMANSKI.

Mend your body & mind in the garden
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
BY KARA ROMANSKI
Suburban Trends
CORRESPONDENT

WEST MILFORD — In addition to the beauty it brings to your own space as well as the entire neighborhood, gardening has many health benefits that can help you nurture and strengthen the mind and body—along with those perennials and peas. And, you do not need a green thumb to reap the rewards of this growing past-time in our communities of combining gardening with exercise.

Exercise benefits

Along with biking five miles in 30 minutes and walking for two miles, The National Institute of Health lists gardening for 30 to 45 minutes as one of its recommended activities for moderate levels of exercise to combat obesity.

Gardening contributes to physical health since activities, such as pulling weeds, digging holes, planting flowers and plants, are all part of three important types of physical activity: endurance, flexibility and strength. Gardening is included with other moderate exercise that can help burn calories and lose weight. You just have to be active for at least 30 minutes to enjoy the physical benefits.

Karen Gureasko, of Denville, a former freelance garden designer has always had a garden.

“I like gardening because you set a short-term goal and get immediate results,” said Gureasko. “There’s a great deal of stretching and weight bearing exercises that you do at your own pace.”

Weight bearing exercises, such as lifting bags of top soil and mulch, pushing wheelbarrows and shoveling, and raking help enhance bone growth and stop bone loss. And, anytime you hold on to handles or tools, you’re working on your forearm and biceps.

“If you choose gardening as an exercise, just be sure to do it properly to avoid injury,” said Carey Yang, a certified personal trainer based in Denville, who trains Gureasko. “Warm up with a stretch before you start to avoid back and knee pains. Also, stay hydrated and cool every 30 minutes.”

Lift your spirits

Nurturing your garden can be a real stress reducer, helping alleviate feelings of anxiety and providing a meditation break from the rush of the everyday.

Multiple studies show that a green-filled environment helps people relax, raises pain tolerance for people with chronic disorders, and improves moods. One of these studies, published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, found that regular exposure to natural environments such as gardens help people recover from the ill effects of stress more quickly.

“The process of watching your garden grow is therapeutic and rewarding. If you’re digging a hole, mending the soil or carrying 40-pound bags of fertilizer, you can not answer your cell phone,” said Gureasko.

Don’t stress if you do not have room for a garden in your own backyard. There is most likely a community garden near you. Perhaps you do not have enough green space or your yard does not get enough sun.

“It can be difficult to garden in West Milford, there’s a lot of rocks and boulders,” said owner David Watson-Hallowell of Sustainable West Milford, which offers a sunny piece of land where residents could gather to garden and learn.

Community gardens

The Community Garden in West Milford is an organic garden, which means no chemicals are allowed on or in the soil. Becoming a member is open to the public and free-of-charge.

While members are welcome to purchase organic seeds from any source, there are several local farms that sell organically grown seedlings to the members too. And fertilizer (horse manure) is donated by local stables.

Thirty West Milford families utilize the plots in the garden, growing vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Members are comprised of master gardeners and novice growers, children, retired folks, and every one in between. The food they harvest is for their own enjoyment. Any harvest in excess of what they can use is donated through its Ample Harvest program to local food pantries.

“There is a real sense of community and friendship among our gardeners,” said Watson-Hallowell. “Members take care of each others plots and each other in the process. It is a great way for people who are not familiar with gardening to get introduced to it in a high success rate environment.”


Source: http://www.northjersey.com/community/97997579_Mend_your_body___mind_in_the_garden_.html

Working Out at Home Can Save Time and Money

Working out at home is convenient and can save you a lot of time. The biggest problem most people run into with working out at home is that they feel limited in their exercise selection because they have limited or no equipment at all.

By changing the speed you perform your exercises, you can create an unlimited number of progressions and variations without having to learn a single new exercise. There are three types of muscle action that need to be defined in order to clearly describe tempo. First off is eccentric action, which describes lowering the weight or your body (imagine going down to the bottom of a push-up).

Isometric action describes muscular contraction with no movement at all (imagine holding a push-up at the bottom). Concentric action refers to overcoming resistance (imagine now lifting yourself up to the top of a push-up). The collective process of adding timing to exercises is known as tempo.

These three phases of movement can be modified to burn more fat and build muscle and there is real-world evidence that modifying tempo can lead to great results. The kings (and queens) of bodyweight exercise are gymnasts. Gymnastics involves frequent use of slow eccentrics (demonstrating body control on rings and bars), isometric pauses (iron cross and other holds), and explosive eccentric and concentric actions (flips).

While the average person is not a gymnast, we can still apply these principles to home workout routines to increase the challenge without needing more equipment. For example, rather than do a simple push-up, you can lower yourself over 3 seconds, pause 2 seconds at the bottom, then explosively lift yourself to the top, trying to launch your body into the air. This push-up is much more advanced (and challenging) than a normal push-up.

These principles can be applied to any type of exercise to improve your home workouts. Slow down the eccentric and add pauses to movements to make them more difficult. Squats, lunges, push-ups, and abdominal exercises are a great place to start. Start out slow and experiment with a variety of tempos and pauses to find out what works best for you.
 
Source: Danny Jobes

How to Choose the Right Elliptical Exercise Equipment for Your Home Gym

Elliptical exercise machines offer a fantastic way to get in shape. If you're a fan of this unique type of machine, you may want to have one at home that you can use all the time. Investing in an elliptical machine is a big decision and not one that should be entered into lightly.

By using the following considerations, you can find the elliptical machine that is right for you. Start out by considering your budget. You will need to spend at least a few hundred dollars on a quality machine. You can spend up to several thousand dollars on an elliptical machine. It may be worth it to save up and buy a midrange model because they normally will last longer than the discount models.

The price differences will mainly be due to the quality of construction and the weight capacity of the machine. You'll want to spend a little extra if you are going to be using the machine every day, versus a few times a week. When you are evaluating elliptical machines there are a few basic keys that you should look for. The most important factor is the stride length. You should look for a machine with at least a 16 inch stride length. The stride length is very important because it will determine whether or not you're able to reach a full range of motion.

As for features, choose the ones that you will find the most helpful. Some people can't live without pre-programmed routines while others prefer to organize their own workouts. It's better to get the minimum of what you need than to get so many features that you'll be overwhelmed.

Before you make your purchase, do some research on different types of machines. Ideally, you should start with Consumer Reports or another similar type of site that has industry reviews on machines. The last thing that you want to do is spend a lot of money on an elliptical machine only to have it break down on you after a few months.

In addition to industry reviews, you can also learn a lot by seeing reviews from other people who have used similar machines. You can find reviews on many different sites online, such as Epinions.com. Be sure to read all the reviews thoroughly. You should take a single bad view with a grain of salt. But if you see the same complaints again and again, you should take notice.

Look for people who have owned their machine for years or have bought from the same brand again and again. Consider visiting a sports equipment store or a gym to see what you think of different brands in person. Nothing can compare to a trial run on a real machine.

You may find that a model that is well reviewed on the websites just doesn't fit your frame. You have to make sure that the machine will support your weight. By trying out machines before you buy them, you can find one that is perfect for your needs