OpenFire

So i was thinking today that i havnt taken vitamin supplements since i was a kid but the craze seems to be taking off again. Ie i was listening to the radio yesterday and a woman came on saying she had to start talking vitamins as she felt that her body wasn’t getting enough from the food she was eating. What was funny to me was that she said it was a feeling she had and im not sure if you can tell specifics of a vitamin deficiency through a feeling.

Indeed there could be many reasons why you could be feeling run down and vitamins could only be part of the problem. However with this being said there are 3 main types of vitamin that we can take:

• Multivitamin
• Calcium with Vitamin D
• Omega-3 Fish Oils

Im not sure if your doctor can tell you or not if which of this group you should be taking (if any) however they are all relatively cheap and safe to take in the right dose so i suppose there’s no harm in trying.

Ive never paid that much attention to the whole fat burning zone thing to be honest. For me its always just been the case of workout hard and you get results. However part of the problem is that everyone gets used to their workout eventually and this can really slow down your progress. This is where keeping your heart rate in the optimal zone could really be of benefit. For example i have a chart below for someone aged 23:

High Intensity – 80-85% MHR

Total Calories expended per min.  6.86
Fat Calories expended per min.  2.7
Total Calories expended in 30 min. 206
Total Fat calories expended in 30 min. 82
Percentage of fat calories burned 39.85%

As you can see the numbers really add up to alot of extra calories that can be burnt. The key is to have your heartbeat at 80% of MHR, which I know is not easy but it could really pay off in the long run.

One thing that does come up now and again when i talk to people who are trying to lose weight is the most effective way to measure your progress. It seems simple at first when most of us just hop onto the scales. However remember that the scales don’t just measure fat loss but your body weight.

Our body weight can change for a number of reasons and not all are bad. For a start you can be retaining a lot of water and this can contribute substantially towards the number on the scales. Another factor is that muscle weighs more than fat and if you are building muscle and notice your weight going up don’t assume it is all bad.

We all know that Learning how to lose weight is the first step in getting fit and looking good. One of the best ways i have found to measure weight loss is body callipers. These measure the thickness of your skin at specific points on your body, while not perfect either it is much more accurate than any scales for true fat loss.

I was just thinking today (i don’t know why) about the Atkins diet and if anyone is still doing it, probably because all the hype has died down about it now and no-one really talks about it anymore. I suppose i shouldn’t really be surprised as the diet fad thing has been going around for year’s maybe even decades. However i suppose when Atkins first came out it seemed like it would be the diet that finally stuck around.

I suppose its core flaw as with all extreme food regimes is that it wasn’t practical in the long term. Carbs aren’t all bad just as all fats are not all bad, as so to exclude a whole food group just leaves a huge hole in the natural rhythm of the body. Still with all this being said i know a lot of people have had great success with it and im sure many will in the future too.

I have to admit i found this one pretty funny but at the same time very interesting. In England there has been a huge rise in the number of disco gyms. These are essentially gyms but with a nightclub feel where you have everything from the DJ to the strobe lights that you would in a night club but supposedly without the alcohol.

I suppose on the one had the dance music could help get you pumped up and ready for a workout but at the same time i can see how it could get a bit annoying after a while. Ie part of the appeal of a night club is that it is where you go to drink, would you want to be there under normal circumstances sober?

So some of you will know and some not about trans fats. Essentially trans fat is an artificially made fat made from vegetable oil that has got a very bad reputation recently. The main problem with this chemical is that it can make you put only alot of weight without even realising it as i was reading today. It can also increase your cholesterol and other problematic conditions. McDonalds is probabaly the most well known user of trans fats in the US but there are a lot of other big names getting in on the act too.

The scary thing about trans fat is how often it is present without us even realising. Sure you probably know that it is going to be in fast food, but what about soups or noodles? Its quite scary but even something like your favourite chicken pie could contain high amounts of this dangerous chemical, read up on this list to find out more.

To me the electric stimulator has always been the funniest thing in the weight loss world. Even if you give it the benefit of the doubt as a machine that will help to tone your muscles (a claim i dispute) then the claims that they actively help you lose weight are ridicules.

So many people buy these things with the hope of having a six pack when the truth is that in order to have a six pack you need to have a very low percentage of body fat (under 8%). So unless this is you then there is no point wasting your money on these things. But i suppose its the same old story of people looking for that magical gadget/pill that will do all the work for them.

So after all the adverts ive been seeing on TV lately for Alli everyone has been talking about it/looking to buy it. The thing that they don’t mention (clearly) on the advert is that its for people with a BMI over 26 which most people who are overweight are not.

I keep wondering when they are going to develop a pill for slightly overweight people as i think there would be a really big market for it. Also i have to mention that i don’t think Alli actually works that well, the pain point of it is as a deterrent as you will have to face some pretty severe consequences if you do eat some fatty food!

So another year and another wonder diet pill, some things never change do they? The main factor with capsiplex is that its supposed to be a boost to your natural calorie burning activities, so you have to be doing some kind of workout anyway. For some i know this isn’t ideal as they may hate the gym but i know a lot of people who are already working out but can’t seem to shift the pounds so maybe its a solution for them.

The way it works is it has chilli extracts that work your gut into burning calories while you are resting, sounds easy but i have heard complaints about people having stomach pains. Still if you want to give it a try it’s not too expensive.

I haven’t used elliptical trainers in a long time, probably because they just don’t look like they really work? Having said that I’ve always been a fan of Reebok equipment as they have a really good reputation for making stuff that lasts. One thing i have always wondered about with these machines though is how many calories you can actually burn when using them?

I have heard figures of around 300-400 calories per hour if your pushing yourself but im not sure if these figures actually stand up. I mean even on the high settings for me it always seems like the machine is doing the work for you? Anyway if you do want to check out reebok you can do it here.