The Content Hoarder

What’s the greatest threat facing our civilization? (No, it’s not the Islamic jihad.) It’s obesity. Due to its attendant health and economic costs, scientists predict that obesity alone will topple economic and social structures, induce a wide range of dire diseases, and drastically cut short Americans’ life spans.

These are more than another set of statistics — they predict things that can and will affect you, your family, your health, and your pocketbook. If you are among the two thirds of adult Americans struggling to escape escalating weight gain, (or even if you’re teetering on the edge with ten persistent pounds you can’t seem to lose), as a physician, I recommend that you take action to lose weight and protect your future health.

And I have good news for you. I’ve developed a simple plan to help you lose weight automatically based on a new scientific breakthrough.

Despite the abysmal failure of conventional medical approaches, this plan is different because it’s based on recent, groundbreaking scientific research, research that I predict will totally revolutionize weight loss and change the landscape of medicine as we know it.

Many of the answers to our weight and health problems are buried in thousands of research papers. With the aid of a number of very brilliant thinkers and scientists, I’ve gathered and synthesized the greatest advances in medical science over the last 20 years — advances that usually take decades to get incorporated into medical practice. Translated into a simple program that has brought easy, sustainable weight loss to thousands of people, you can access them today.

In the recent past, many pundits theorized that society-wide weight gain was due to our genes. In a sense, they were right, but genes only tell half the story. We share the same genes as our hunter- gatherer forebears who foraged in the woods and hunted wild game 20,000 years ago. What’s changed is the environment within which our genes operate.

Up until modern times, man’s natural environment supplied the foods we were genetically programmed to eat. But with the advent of industrialized agriculture and food production, we began eating mass-produced and processed foods that genetically program us to add pounds.

Here’s how:

Food is information — not just calories — and food information speaks to our genes, turning some genes ON and other genes OFF. That’s why it’s genes, not calories, that count.

Until recently, scientists believed that the critical mechanism for weight loss was caloric intake and expenditure — you eat little and exercise hard to lose each pound. But that’s hard to do and harder to maintain, recent scientific studies reveal (and no doubt not surprising to anyone who has tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to lose weight).

Using the caloric mechanism for weight loss is a bit like manually cranking a lever to open your garage door inch-by-inch and then having to hold the door open. Wouldn’t you rather push the button that activates the circuitry to open your garage door automatically?

To do that for weight loss, you have to access the master biological mechanisms controlling weight loss and weight gain. Using those mechanisms opens the door to automatic weight loss. The recent scientific discoveries I’ve assembled decode the instruction manual of our basic biology. At last, we can control the master mechanisms: our genes themselves.

The new genetic science (called Functional Medicine) teaches that our genes interact intimately with our environment. Every bite of food we eat, every thought we think, every stress we experience, or toxin we inhale carries a specific message to our genes, turning them on (or off), and telling them how to behave.

As a result, our genes are programmed moment-by-moment to actively create either weight loss or weight gain. Scientists have tracked exactly how all the different foods trigger the messages sent to your genes. With that knowledge, you can give your body the foods that work in your favor — and avoid ones that don’t.

For instance, for decades, people were warned to avoid fats at all costs, but now we know that the type of fat you eat is more important than the amount of fat you eat. The new science traces the biological impact of good fats, like the omega-3 fatty acids (contained in fish, fish oils, certain nuts and many other foods) and bad fats like the trans-fats contained in many processed foods.

What researchers found is that good fats turn on your body’s fat burning genes and bad fats turn off the fat burning genes. When you consume EPA or DHA, both omega-3 fatty acids, they access a metabolic gateway called the PPAR receptor, to activate genes that increase your metabolism, help you burn fat, and assist you in processing bodily glucose more effectively so that foods won’t get stored as fat.

It’s as if the EPA and DHA opens up an extra lane on your hormonal superhighway, making for a smooth and easy route towards slimness and health. That’s why, for automatic weight loss, I recommend adding EPA and DHA (both found in fish oil) to your diet, beginning today. On the other hand, unhealthy transfats (such as found in many processed and fast foods) act as a metabolic roadblock to weight loss, and if you eat them, you may find yourself crawling along at a snail’s pace, going nowhere.

These are just two of the hundreds of ways that you’ll learn to awaken the fat-burning code hidden in your DNA. In my new book, UltraMetabolism, due out in March, 2006, you’ll discover a wide range of foods that tell your genes to shed pounds, while learning to avoid the many other foods that tell your genes to pack on the pounds. Eating the foods right for your genes allows you to literally program your body to lose weight automatically, even as you sleep!

And that is the key: be simply learning to eat the foods that ignite your body’s fat burning engines, and avoiding the foods that snuff out these engines, you finally begin the process of working WITH your body, instead of against it — something that all fad diets fail to do, which is why they all fail in the long-run.

But, because UltraMetabolism teaches a simple plan to harness your body’s own powerful fat burning forces — ones that have evolved over millions of years — you are actually programming your body to lose weight, automatically.

Why struggle and suffer with ineffective diets when you can actually teach your body to be slim and healthy? With the simple two-step plan I’ve developed, you can program your body to lose weight automatically. In the first step, you eliminate all of the bad foods that slow your metabolism, make you feel lethargic and lead to disease; in the second step, you add the good foods that crank up your metabolism, boost your energy and revitalize your health.

Twenty-first century weight loss is easier than you’ve ever dreamed. And it’s something that I am confident about since I’ve treated over 2,000 patients, many of whom have experienced the very same automatic weight loss that I’ve described here.

My message to you is simple: If you want to fit into your jeans, you have to learn to fit into your genes!

Mark Hyman, M.D.

So you’re buying an elliptical machine? Elliptical machines give you a low impact, safe workout that burns a maximum amount of calories in the least amount of time.

But with all of the different elliptical brands out there, how do you choose the best one? Here are 5 key features to look for when shopping to help you find the very best elliptical machine.

1) Forward and Reverse motions

The ability to move in a forward or reverse motion adds variety and challenge to your workout. It works different sets of muscles and results in more calories burned overall.

This also reduces your risk of repetitive use injuries common with some treadmill and stair climber users. Most ellipticals have this option but it’s always a good idea to make sure.

2) Adjustable resistance

Quality elliptical machines will have a range of resistance levels. Increasing the resistance increases the calories burned. It also helps you continue to challenge your body as your fitness level improves.

Look for an elliptical machine that makes resistance changes simple (i.e. one-touch resistance adjustment) so that interval training sessions can be easily incorporated into your workout

3) Upper body workout arms

While you really don’t need these for an effective workout, many people prefer them. They do help to provide resistance training for your upper body - and again, result in more calories burned.

However make sure you don’t have to lean over while using them which can diminish the effectiveness of your workout (this can happen on many of the cheaper elliptical models).

4) Quiet operation

Look for an elliptical machine that is specifically designed to stay quiet. A truly well designed elliptical machine should be fairly quiet at all intensity levels.

Also - cheaper ellipticals can develop a squeak after a few months of heavy use so be careful to buy a quality brand of elliptical machine and steer clear of the cheap department store models.

5) Elliptical Incline

It used to be that only high end, commercial elliptical trainers like Precor offered this option however lately more affordable models like Proform and Nordic Track are offering incline on several of their machines.

Incline is not the same as resistance. It changes the incline of the elliptical motion and helps to work different sets of muscles for increased fat burning and toning.

So those are 5 key features that make up a quality elliptical machine. By looking for most of these 5 key features, you’ll be assured of finding the very best elliptical machine for your needs.

For more Elliptical Best Buys visit:

http://www.EllipticalTrainerReview.com/Best_Elliptical_Buys.html

Kathryn O’Neill is the chief editor for Elliptical Trainer Reviews, a consumer oriented website focusing on the home elliptical trainer market.

For the latest elliptical reviews and best buys visit www.EllipticalTrainerReview.com

Buying elliptical exercise equipment? There are so many different brands and types of ellipticals out there - it can get confusing! How do you know which one is best for you and how do you avoid buying a lemon?

In order to keep things simple and have the very best buying experience, here are 3 key tips to help you choose the best elliptical exercise equipment:

#1) Price

If you want a quality elliptical trainer, be prepared to spend at least $800. Why? Because most ellipticals under this price point just aren’t built to stand up over the long haul.

Example: My $400 elliptical that I bought from a department store several years back lasted 3 months - 4 if you count the last month it was used as a clothes hanger in my living room.

After 3 months it developed a loud squeaking noise that couldn’t be fixed - no matter how long or hard my handyman husband worked on it.

If I’d been smart enough to spend a bit more, I’d probably still have the elliptical today. In the end it was a huge waste of money and time.

So the bottom line is this: If you’re really serious about getting in shape, you deserve to invest in a piece of exercise equipment that’s going to last you - so be ready to spend a bit more on your elliptical trainer. If you consider how long the elliptical will last you, you actually SAVE money over the long term.

#2) Who Are You Buying It From?

While there are lots of places the sell elliptical exercise equipment - both online and off, make sure they have several years of experience and a solid return policy. If a company has experience selling elliptical equipment, this will make your transaction (and shipping) go much more smoothly.

A solid return policy also gives you peace of mind when buying your elliptical. For example, even if you try your elliptical out in a store, you might get it home and find that after a week it strains your arms or hurts your hips. You want to know that you can return your elliptical without a hassle.

Many specialty fitness stores will offer some kind of return policy and most experienced online elliptical stores also offer you a standard 30 day return policy. But it’s always important to check before you buy.

#3) Upper Body Arms

The beauty of an elliptical trainer is that it offers you a total body workout.

Whereas treadmills and recumbent bikes tend to work mainly the lower body only, ellipticals offer you a chance to burn calories and build strength using upper body arm handles. This means more calories burned in less time.

Surprisingly enough however, not all elliptical trainers offer upper body arms with their units. Make sure you choose an elliptical with upper body workout arms included if this is an option you want.

It usually won’t cost you extra to have upper body arms however one note of caution: Many of the cheaper ellipticals don’t necessarily have the coordination between the arms and legs exactly right. This can result in injury or a less efficient workout.

Rule of Thumb: You should not have to lean over to use the upper body arms.

So there are three things to consider when buying elliptical exercise equipment. Keep these things in mind and you’ll save yourself time and loads of frustration!

For more buying tips and elliptical reviews visit:

http://www.ellipticaltrainerreview.com/Elliptical_Articles.html

Kathryn O’Neill is the chief editor for Elliptical Trainer Reviews, a consumer oriented website focusing on the home elliptical trainer market.

For the latest elliptical reviews and best buys visit www.EllipticalTrainerReview.com

How to Shop For the Right Food to Lose Weight

While shopping may not qualify as an aerobic activity, it can certainly help you to shed the pounds, if you follow the right formula. What you buy largely determines what you will eat. Therefore, if you want to maintain a healthy diet at home, you’ll need to do some advanced planning before heading out to the supermarket.

The secret to weight loss may begin with your shopping list. You need to take some time before going to the store to assess what your nutritional needs are. For instance, a healthy diet might very well include breads and cereals, dairy products, vegetables and fruits, along with meat, fish and poultry. However, you’ll need to decide on exactly which products to buy within each food category.

For instance, rather than purchasing white bread or cereals with little fiber, consider whole wheat bread and whole wheat cereals. Pass up the whole milk and whole milk yogurt and buy non-fat milk and yogurt instead. You should avoid iceberg lettuce and opt for Romaine; select fresh fruit rather than fruit in heavy syrup. You may be tempted to buy fried chicken, bacon or spareribs, but choose low-fat options such as baked chicken, lean hamburger, and grilled fish.

It’s a good idea to go grocery shopping after you have eaten a full meal. Otherwise, your hunger could drive you to buy junk food and other unhealthy snacks. If you are operating on a full stomach, you’ll think more clearly and you will be less likely to buy food impulsively. Also, it is critically important that you do not buy more food than you need. Otherwise, you will have a powerful incentive to overeat.

Before you go shopping, you might want to check out the layout of the supermarket. Find out where you can find those items that are likely to appear on your list. Otherwise, you could find yourself browsing the shelves, looking for food that appears interesting–but could also be quite fattening. Certainly, it may take some extra time to “scope out” the supermarket, but it will be well worth the effort, if it results in weight loss.

Whenever possible, you should buy individually packaged food. These single servings allow you to maintain proper portion control. For instance, if you feel you must indulge in potato chips, you will be far better off if you buy a single-serving bag rather than the family pack. Remember, large portions equal weight gain.

You might actually want to avoid shopping with coupons. Coupons can tempt you to buy high-calorie items that you might otherwise pass up. While everyone wants a good bargain, you don’t want to end up paying for that deal by gaining additional pounds. It’s a sad fact that you will rarely find a coupon for fresh fruit and vegetables. But you might think of the situation this way: You will end up saving money if you eat “fresh” because you will not have to invest in additional clothes.

Also, when you’re considering which foods to buy, concentrate on the product labels. There, you’ll find a great deal of nutritional information, indicating fat content, calorie content, portion size, and vitamin and mineral content. If you end up bringing the product home, you should serve the item according to the suggested portion size. In other words, if a portion equals one-half cup, don’t opt for two cups. In essence, you should be treating food as if it’s a medication that must be used as directed. In this way, you should avoid the weight loss that comes with overeating.

It is interesting to note that the American Institute for Cancer Research determined that only 12 percent of shoppers determined portion size by using the label. As a result, paying attention to nutrition labels is a counter-cultural thing to do. But it is certainly a good habit to get into. Otherwise, at the end of the day, you could end up with far more fat than you bargained for.

You may be amazed at the amount of weight you can lose just by diligent shopping. A little advanced planning can go a long way to ensuring weight loss. And you might actually save yourself some money, since you will no longer be buying expensive snacks.

Behavior toward neighboring Yoga schools, Yoga teachers, and their students, should be cordial. Like the old saying goes, “If you do not have anything good to say, do not say anything at all.” When we speak of other Yoga teachers, or former Yoga teachers, in a hostile manner, what do we teach our students?

Unfortunately, Yoga teachers are human and behavior is not always optimum. Show respect toward neighboring ashrams by letting the director, master teacher, or guru, know about your events - in the form of a letter or invitation. Do not post your events on their doors, on their cars, and on telephone poles nearby their ashram.

Do not encourage your Yoga students to tear down advertisements of other local ashrams in the markets and local coffee shops. Harmonious coexistence with local Yoga studios and ashrams is healthy. When Yoga students are encouraged to become sectarian, or elitist, they are being strayed away from the true meaning of Yoga. Always remember Yoga means “unity.”

Avoid moving your Yoga studio next door, above, below, or across the street from another Yoga teacher. The world is a very big place. There is no need for us to behave like rivaling businesses. If that were acceptable, Yoga would be just a business, and our true mission is to help others.

Try to maintain good relations with former Yoga teachers and their students. Sometimes, there are complications in the student / teacher relationship, but try to be as friendly as possible.

Relationships with your Yoga students should be balanced and kept intact. Yoga teachers should avoid using their position for leverage or special favors. If you are having feelings beyond the usual Yoga teacher / Yoga student relationship, you should seek qualified advice, do some “soul searching,” or withdraw yourself from the situation.

The Yoga studio is not a romantic playground, or part of a dating service, for Yoga teachers. As a Yoga teacher, your relationship is founded upon the trust of your students. You also want to avoid “fueling” any distractions from Yoga practice.

Lastly, you want to encourage your more advanced Yoga students to become independent creators of their own practice. It is nice to be needed, but your Yoga students will grow if they are allowed to be innovators. You can always show them the safest methods to keep them on the right track, but you do not want your advanced Yoga students to feel dependent on your existence.

To draw a small comparison: A pair of adult eagles takes wonderful care of their chick, but someday, that chick will grow to be as large as its parents. The solution is to encourage their offspring to fly and become independent. You know, you will not be around forever, so encourage your Yoga students to keep the practice evolving.

© Copyright 2005 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

If you are looking for fitness personal trainers on the net, you will come across many many health and fitness websites extolling the virtues of why you should hire a personal trainer to achieve your fitness and health goals didn’t you? If you are reading this article of which you are doing now, you are probably surprised to find why a fitness personal trainer like me is telling you why you don’t need one. You will probably think that I am crazy. Perhaps I am. Well, read on and you may discover that I am not as crazy as you think after all.

* You don’t need a fitness personal trainer because you hated the commitment that entails once you hire a personal trainer. Anyway, you have been working out for many years without any commitment to anyone, even to yourself and that is why, you only workout as and when you are pleased. Well, you do concede that the results you get are never satisfactory and of course you are frustrated with your results. But what the heck, you prefer to waste time, waste gym membership fees and enjoy getting frustrated. You are entitled to your liberty.

* You don’t need a fitness personal trainer because you hated someone to push and encourage you so that you can achieve your health and fitness goals much faster. Your idea of going to the gym is to socialize and to chat up girls. So why should you subject yourself to a regimen planned by a personal trainer who can sculpt your body to be more attractive and desirable to the girls you wanted to chat up? Your beer belly will do just fine. Girls just love big beer bellies you justify to yourself. So who needs a flat tummy with those ugly six pack abs? You certainly don’t.

* You don’t need a fitness personal trainer because you believe in the precept of “no pain no gain.” So if you exercise using the wrong form and techniques resulting in painful or even worse, permanent injuries, well, that is pain isn’t it? So therefore with pain, there will be gains. Hmmm, such profound reasoning that even the great philosopher Confucius will be confused if he is still alive eh?

* You don’t need a fitness personal trainer because you pay your income taxes. So without someone to guide and train you scientifically, you will not lose much body and visceral fat, so you will still have that high blood pressure, that potential stroke and heart attack, so that you will eventually land in a government subsidized hospital and so that some of the taxes which you have paid will be utilized by yourself. That is great clever thinking eh? You are glad that even without a PHD in business studies, you can figure out how to get a wonderful return of investments from your taxes paid

* You don’t need a fitness personal trainer because you believe in conforming to the society. After all, most people in your country are overweight and not exactly glowing with good health, then why should you be otherwise? You are delighted to be like most people, obese and unhealthy. Hey, you are a good citizen aren’t you?

* You don’t need a fitness personal trainer because you can spy on people who hired personal trainers in your gym. You eavesdrop on their trainers giving instructions and then you secretly work out according to what you have overheard not realizing that each and everyone is different and workout plans are to be tailored to each individual condition factoring in other issues like lifestyle, dietary habits and even the choice of exercises. You prefer to “monkey see, monkey do” and eventually falling painfully off the tree. Or should I say falling off the Empire State Building where the mighty King Kong fell?

* The most compelling reason why you don’t need a fitness personal trainer is because you have downloaded my “Burn Fat Build Muscles Fast” e-books and now you have a personal trainer in your hands. By following the instructions in the books you have transformed your body tremendously and are now the proud owner of an attractive and desirable body not to say you are also glowing with excellent health and fitness. Whoever said that you need to hire fitness personal trainers in order to own a lean mean attractive muscular body that only others can dream of must be crazy, don’t you agree?

Benefits do exist for your exercise program with the use of treadmills. Your heart, lungs, and circulation will get a wonderful cardiovascular workout from the use of a treadmill. It is easier and less painful to workout when there is low impact on your joints while you exercise.

It is a great workout for women who are pregnant. It builds endurance which will likely help during labor because it is low impact and cardiovascular in nature. Treadmills especially the lower end models, are not expensive and they are easy to use. If you want to lose weight and body fat try using a treadmill.

Treadmills have a non-physical benefit, they don’t take up a lot of space. Some treadmills could take up a whole room but you can find some that fold and are powered by your movement only, if space is the issue. If you want to find the one that is appropriate for you, do some research and talk to professionals.

The best thing to do is to compare various models. What kind of features do you want on your treadmill? When comparing different models you should look at a number of things. This can all be overwhelming because all you want to do is workout.

The motor type can affect the size of your machine. One of the most important things to look at are the belt trackers. It’s the running belt placement and the type of movement of the belt as you work out. The belt should move smoothly over the rollers as opposed to jerky movement.

Have you seen the checkout belts in the market that move then stop and move again and stop again? If your treadmill works like that there can be more impact on your joints than necessary and injury could result. The width of the belt and its length is something else to look at.

You could end up “running-off” the end of the belt if it is too short. Your stance will not necessarily be supported if the belt is too narrow. You can try a machine that is similar to the one you want or try the one you do want if possible. The impact on your joints as well as your workout will be affected by the type and percentage of incline.

You can increase the slope to be as if you were climbing a steep hill on most treadmills as you make progress. You should be able to adjust the speed-how fast the belt moves also. There is a minimum and maximum speed, do you know what it is? You can make your workout more effective with this knowledge and plan it better.

Check your treadmill console for the heart monitor which should be a key feature. Knowing your resting heart rate and the target heart rate (the highest number you can safely reach to get maximum benefits) will help make your workout more beneficial.

Also on your console there should be displayed your speed, your time, and the distance you’ve covered. Learning how to properly use your treadmill is essential before attempting to use it. The control panel should be very easy to read.

In order to use the control panel, do you need the software program? Something you don’t want is a noisy treadmill. You don’t want the noise to be overpowering but know there will be some noise. The noise level should be tolerable, is it?

Is the belt’s thickness acceptable? You want a belt thick enough to last for a long time, a thin belt could wear over time. Some belts will stretch out. If you want your treadmill to last, be sure to check the belt for stretching or cracking.

The weight of the machine is something you should consider. Some companies will deliver it to the door but it’s your job to get it into the house and set it up. If you don’t like the looks of your machine you will be less likely to use it.

When not in use, will it be easy to store? Since it will likely occupy the same space it does when not in use, you will have to decide if this is practical for you. Treadmills should not be place near walls to prevent injury. Set it up at about 8 feet from any wall, ledge, or window.

In order to prevent someone from falling while getting off the treadmill all of the wires and the power supply should be out of the way of walking areas or taped down. Listed below are a few tips on using your new treadmill.

Straddle the belt before you get on it, and make sure it’s set at the proper speed. Keep your eyes straight ahead because your feet will follow your eyes. Preventing slips and falls can be done by staying in the center of the belt.

If your looking for tips and advice on treadmills or fitness equipment in general, Martin Smith had a resource of information available. From Treadmills to Home Fitness Equipment you’ll find something.

The number one thing you need to get from this article is this. Significant increases in the muscular size of any particular muscle group, can not be achieved without similar increases throughout the entire body. Any and all exercise performed has an indirect effect on all the body’s subsystems and muscular structures.

An exercise which primarily involves the legs, produces to varying degrees, muscle growth in all other muscles throughout the body. The relative size of the muscles involved largely determines how great the indirect effect will be. The larger the muscle group, the greater the overall indirect effect on other body parts. Got it. Good

This indirect effect is the result of intensity of effort. If the intensity is low, indirect muscle growth is minimal. If the intensity is high, indirect muscle growth is absolutely incredible. But remember, these muscle gains are not stimulated through the quantity of exercise performed, but from the overall intensity of effort.

Maximizing intensity of effort requires the same style of training for absolutely everyone. That mean you and me. However, individual performance is relative. For example. while the performance of a 100 pound bench press may involve a high level of intensity for one person, a considerably stronger trainee could perform the same exercise with a much lower intensity. But as we now know beyond a shadow of doubt. High levels of intensity must be reached, before an increase in muscle size will be produced. If you train below that particular level, your muscle gains will be practically non-existent.

Although the level of intensity required to produce maximum muscle gains may actually be below maximum intensity, determining exactly when that point has been reached during your workouts is near impossible. Even if the required intensity for maximum muscle gains could be converted into a percentage, you wouldn’t be unable to determine accurately when that exact level is reached during an exercise. Working at one hundred percent, maximum intensity of effort guarantees that this level is always achieved, regardless of whether it is an actual requirement or not. Are you following me?

Look. If maximum muscle gains is your goal, working out with anything less than one hundred percent intensity of effort is not going to cut it. In fact, it’s almost a complete waste of time. Regardless of the actual intensity of effort required, working the largest of muscle groups will produce incredible muscle growth all over the entire body.

Although we may not be entirely sure why, we do know that without a doubt, it does happen. For the best possible muscular gains, the major muscular structures should be trained intensely. If the exercise is intense, brief and infrequent, maximum gains will be achieved. As no muscle can be truly isolated from the body’s subsystems and all exercises have some degree of overall effect on the body, for the best possible muscle gains, only full body workouts should be performed.

As I has explained to you here. Split-routines are in fact physiologically impossible. A training program which ’splits’ the body into muscle groups, doesn’t permit sufficient recovery time for the body overall. As a result, split training programs do not produce maximum possible muscle gains. In almost all cases, they actually prevent them. No exceptions.

Copyright 2005 Sheridan Woodcroft

A big mistake that lots of people make is skipping meals. They think they are not eating much so they should be losing weight. Wrong!

Your body was designed with the idea that you have to expend energy in order to get food. If you think back a hundred or more years ago, if you wanted to eat something you had to either go hunting everyday or grow your own food. And that’s a lot of work - that’s a lot of physical activity. And even though we no longer have to do this, it doesn’t change the fact that our bodies are still designed this way. So when you skip a meal, your body actually thinks that you’re out in the wild and, for whatever reason, food is hard to come by. This is a built in survival mechanism that all of us have - it’s built in. So when your body thinks food is hard to find, it does two things to protect you from starving. First it slows your metabolism causing your body to slow down and burn less fat. Second the meal you eat after you skip a meal will be converted almost entirely to fat and stored - to protect you from starving. So if you skip breakfast, almost all of what you eat for lunch is converted to fat. We think we’re taking in less food but in reality were causing our bodies to store fat.

Your metabolism is totally controllable by you. You can lose weight easily If you speed your metabolism up naturally and safely.

Increasing your lean muscle mass enables your body to burn more fat as it takes more effort to sustain muscle than it does fat. Therefore, the more lean muscle mass you have, the faster your metabolism is likely to be. Therefore, your exercise regime should include not only fat burning exercises but also some muscle building exercise. Women should note that this does not mean you have to get ‘beefy’ but just tone up your muscles.

Protein also plays an important part in this process. Women should generally consume about 100 grams of protein per day and men 150 grams. This can be quite difficult to achieve unless you take a protein supplement. You then know exactly how much protein you are consuming and it is much easier to control.

So the message is: 1. Don’t skip meals - you will end up putting on weight. 2. Build lean muscle mass by doing a combination of weight training as well as fat burning exercises. 3. Make sure you are consuming the right amount of protein per day to aid in building lean muscle mass.

Buying a used tanning bed would be like buying any other product or appliance that has been used before, such as a used car or a used stair lift. One definite advantage is obviously the lesser cost of the used item. But there are pitfalls whenever you chose to purchase a second hand product. For example, when you buy a used stair lift, you may discover that the lift mechanism creates a disturbing and ominous sound. And when you buy a used car, you may find out that there are parts that you need to replace. Thus, when you buy a second hand tanning bed, what would you end up with?

To avoid unprecedented problems, you must buy second hand tanning beds the way you would buy a used car. You must know the model, the year it was manufactured, and the features. Though tanning beds are fairly recent technological products, the older models are considered less safe than the new ones. This is because some of the lamps in older models of tanning beds emit the type A ultraviolet radiation (UV-A). This type of radiation has been known to cause skin cancer and other similar diseases. Thus, the new models have lamps that produce only type B ultraviolet radiation (UV-B). This type of radiation is not entirely safe, but it is not the primary cause of skin cancer.

Check the features of the used tanning bed. Do these still work properly? A malfunctioning feature is not a good sign. You may ask a specific question, such as “Can the lamps and acrylic sheets be removed and changed easily?” If the owner confesses that he’s selling the tanning bed because the bulb is difficult to replace, then start making a graceful exit. That could mean UV ray health risk.

Another thing that you should find out is the reason why the tanning bed is being sold by its owner. If the reason is a timer that has stopped working, or a bulb that does not turn on, move on and consider another tanning bed. If the reason is that the owner is bankrupt or moving to another country, then the tanning bed could be working fine. Now all you need to see is the warranty.

Companies that sell tanning beds offer two kinds of warranty. The first is for a limited amount of time (about a year), but it has greater coverage. The second is a limited warranty, but it is for a lifetime. This means that a tanning bed would always have a warranty, even if it is already used. If the owner tells you that the warranty for the tanning bed has expired, the product is most probably defective.

Some users of tanning beds claim that the price of new tanning beds is not much higher than that of second hand ones. The price depends on the brand and model.