"Your Daily Carb PlanPasta lovers, put on your party pants: To keep pounds off, you should get up to 65 percent of daily calories from carbs—45 to 55 percent for meat eaters; 55 to 65 percent for vegetarians getting protein from carb-rich stuff. Here's what a perfect day of carb eating looks like, complete with tasty ideas."
"There’s a natural tendency to want to leap right into a workout. After all, who isn’t pressed for time? But failing to take the proper steps before each training session can sabotage your results, if not lead to injury and long-term ailments.
By planning ahead and warming up properly, you’ll have a more effective workout, be less susceptible to injury, and produce the results you desire. Here are four quick steps you can take to do just that."
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/557765-4-things-you-should-do-before-every-workout/#ixzz23AvoXMG6
No crazy gimmicks or deprivation diets here. These 10 smart new strategies will help you shed fat and keep it off.
Use fat to burn fat.
Trying yet again to lose those last 10 pounds? We hear you. In fact, 50 percent of women say that within six months they gain back any weight they've managed to ditch. And more than a quarter have dieted so many times they've lost track of the number. Well, get ready to stop the endless yo-yoing: Science has finally come up with simple, groundbreaking solutions for lasting weight loss. We checked in with the top experts in the field and scoured the latest research to bring you the skinny on everything you need to reach your slim-down goals and stay there.
Make your fat burn fat.Seriously: Your flab can help you shed pounds. How? Just as there's more than one kind of fat in food, there's more than one type in your body. White fat is the bad stuff you want to zap. But a second kind, brown fat, actually torches calories. "Up to 80 percent of adults have brown fat deposits in their bodies," says Aaron M. Cypess, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine at the Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School. This good fat is powerful because it's packed with mitochondria, the parts of cells that generate heat. When activated, as little as two ounces of brown fat can gobble up as much as 20 percent of your body's calories.
Exercise is one of the best ways to get your brown fat in gear. In a study, scientists at Harvard's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute discovered that working out releases a hormone called irisin, which converts white fat to brown. Exercise for a half hour at least five days a week to turn up the burn.
| Time | Food Ideas | Foods to Avoid |
| 2 hours before | 300- to 400-calorie meal containing carbs, protein, and healthy fats:
| Tons of fibrous veggies:
High-fat foods that are hard to digest:
|
| Time | Food Ideas | Foods to Avoid |
| 1 hour before | 150-calorie snack containing easily digestible carbs and a little protein:
| Gas-producing fruits:
|
| 15 to 30 minutes before | Small serving of easily digestible carbs:
| Large serving of protein and carbs, and high-saturated fat and high-fiber foods:
|
"Is it wise to practice weight training and aerobic exercise on the same day?That issue is surprisingly contentious in the sports world. Many competitive athletes, their coaches and athletic trainers have come to believe that aerobic exercise, if practiced in close proximity to strength training, reduces the ability of muscles to strengthen and grow. Conversely, many contend that weight training performed on the same day as aerobic exercise blunts the endurance training response.This phenomenon, known variously as “muscle interference” or “exercise antagonism,” is a frequent topic on fitness-related chat boards. But to date, most of the discussions have been based on anecdotal evidence or simple conjecture. There has been little science supporting or challenging the existence of interference.
So, independently, groups of researchers at McMaster University in Ontario and the Karolinska Institute and other institutions in Sweden recently recruited volunteers to test the idea that you get more physiological benefit from performing only one type of exercise on any given day..."
1) Barefoot running gives you increased running efficiencyResearch suggests that running barefoot increases efficiency by 4%. This is likely to be due to the fact the foot can function more effectively without the restriction of supportive footwear.
2) Less chance of injuryRunning in a barefoot shoe like Vibram FiveFingers® means you have a greater awareness of your foot position on the ground and increased leverage making you less likely to suffer an ankle sprain.
When running barefoot on hard surfaces, you automatically compensate for the lack of cushioning underfoot by plantar-flexing your foot at contact, thus giving a softer landing. This helps to prevent shin splints.
3) Running barefoot strengthens foot musclesWhen you support a broken limb with a plaster, the muscles weaken. Likewise, when you support the foot within a conventional running shoe, it results in a weakening of soome muscles. Weak muscles can mean greater injury risk, greater dependency on shoes, and impaired performance.
4) It decreases your risk of bunionsBecause the traditional shape of feet does not match the shape of our shoes, the big toe is often pushed towards the middle of the foot and the same is true of the little toe. This, along with the heel of the shoe pushing the big toe even further, results in a deviation of the big toe which can lead to bunions.
5) Barefoot running maximises biomechanical performanceCounter to popular belief that the arches are there to absorb shock, they are in fact designed to store energy and return that energy to the gait cycle on the next step. Wearing shoes that 'support' the arch, prevent the arches from performing their function. Being barefoot ensures that the arches are working as they are designed to.
"And so we turned to some of our favorite medical and nutritional experts to come up with this list of 50 of the healthiest foods, presented alphabetically. Pad your grocery list with these and you'll be on your way to a healthier, more vibrant diet. Of course, even as we editors finished the list, we started thinking of more ("How could carrots not be on the list?" "What about black pepper?"). So we plan to follow up with a second list of healthy foods. Let us know in the comments which of your favorites we skipped and they could appear soon."
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