The truth is, the industry doesn’t want you to know the truth about losing weight or how to stay in shape.  If you did know the truth about How to Lose Belly Fat, How to Get Ripped Abs, How to Get in Shape for the Summer or How to Eat Anything and Stay Fit then you would not need to buy all the gimmicks, exercise contraptions, supplements and even fairy dust that you sprinkle on your food.

Here’s a simple truth to staying in shape. You need to exercise and eat well.  Don’t put processed foods in your mouth, don’t supersize or binge on snacks.  Make wise and healthy choices.

Instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs.  Instead of going through drive-thru, get out of the car and walk to the coffee shop.  Skip the donuts.  Go for a bike ride. Walk. Get a dumbbell.  Lift something. Move something.

That’s all it takes.  Our ancestors didn’t need shakeweights, fancy diets, pills, or trampolines to stay fit.  Their lives demanded some form of physical activity.  So, as much as every manufacturer, marketer and pharma company in the fitness industry like to claim that their product will revolutionize how you exercise, that you will lose a mind blowing 10lbs a night while you sleep, none are willing to tell you the truth.

We just finished dinner.  A dinner that was prepared in a slow-cooker. A dinner we prepared ourselves. We chopped it, diced it, and seasoned it.  We did it ourselves and knew exactly what we were eating.

Time for a desert. But there wasn’t anything that fancied our taste buds. We normally don’t stock our pantry or the fridge with sweets or processed treats, but  after naming a few options, we came across one item that was purchased on impulse .  We had it in a fridge for about couple of weeks. It was time to eat it.  Prior to opening the packaging, as I always do, I quickly scanned the list of ingredients.  I was shocked.  It seemed like this treat wasn’t even made with real food.  Reading out the ingredients out loud made the treat sound even more disgusting.  If you didn’t look at the picture below, would you be able to guess what the treat is, just by looking at the ingredients list?

• Enriched Wheat Flour
• Water
• Sugar
• Dextrose
• Soybean
• Cottonseed
• Palm Oil Shortening
• Wheat Starch
• Glucose Fructose
• Modified Milk Ingredient
• Baking Soda
• Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate
• Salt
• Cinnamon
• Corn Starch
• Vital Wheat Gluten
• Corn Syrup Solids
• Mono- and Diglycerides
• Sodium Aluminum Phosphate
• Sodium
• Stearol-2-Lactylate
• Natural and Artificial Flavour
• Sodium Alginate
• Xantham Gum
• Potassium Sorbate
• Polysorbate 60
• Propylene Glycol
• Colour (Contains Tartrazine)

The sum of all these ingredients equals to Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Buns. Unbelievable, I know. It should be illegal to sell this junk.  Needless to say, the only thing that consumed these Cinnamon Buns was the trash can. This is just one example of thousands of items in the grocery store that contain this much of additives and other chemicals.  Always check the labels.  A good rule of thumb to follow is, if you don’t know what the ingredients are, don’t buy it.

Whether your fitness buff is a novice, seasoned gym rat or a pro-athlete there is definitely something on this list they all would love.  I’m recommending these gift ideas for three reasons, all items get a great deal of usage from myself and my clients, they help you get the results you want and because they fit any budget.  You can either get individual items or bundle them as an ultimate gift basket for the fitness enthusiast on your list.

Kettlebells

The popularity of kettlebells in North America has been rising steadily in the past few years.  But the iron ball with a handle has been used by the Eastern Bloc nations for strength and functional training for decades.  Kettlebells are unqiue in a sense that one of these has the ability to recruit more than one muscle groups and joints during a workout.  If you’re thinking of building strength while getting your cardio levels up, this is a great route to go.  The pricing will vary depending on the weight and where you purchase.  They can start as low as $10 and got as high as $100

Swiss Balls

Swiss balls, aka exercise balls have been popular among physical therapists, personal trainers and athletes for years.  There are a great deal of challenging exercises you can do with one of these, even if you’re a hardcore bodybuilder. But swiss balls are also great as supplements to traditional support equipment used in the exercises routines, such as bench, chair or a solid flat surface.  For example, if you’re using a swiss ball in place of a bench you are forced to use many of your core muscles to help you stabilize your body.  This will enhance your calorie burning effect during the exercise. There are many brands and sizes out on the market usually ranging between $20 and $30.

Medicine Balls

Medicine balls look like a regular ball, but much heavier.  They can range from just ounces to upwards of 25lbs a piece.  Similar to Kettlebells, when using these during an exercise routine they help recruit many different muscle groups and joints.  Medicine balls can help build up burst speed, strength and cardio.  There are many different suppliers and sizes, so prices will range between $15 to $70

Interval timer: Gymboss

This is one my most recently discovered products that I’ve been using on regular basis for the past couple of years.  I can’t believe I’ve never searched for it or heard of it much earlier. An interval timer basically helps you go through a timed workout with set time allocated for work and rest.  There are a number of routines and programs that you can do with a timer to help you squeeze in the most intense workout in minimal amount of time.  Using an interval timer also helps you build up your cardio by increasing work time and decreasing rest periods.  Many athletes, especially boxers find these very useful to train with as their sport requires a great deal of start-and-stop type of action and movement.  You can get this for $20.

Online Workout and Fitness App Subscription: DailyBurn

Last but not least, no proper fitness program can be complete without a proper fitness planning, workout and nutrition tracking.  There are a number of players in this space. I tried a few of them, but the only one I can confidently recommend is DailyBurn. This online app helps you track your workouts, nutrition, how you’re progressing to your goal and provides custom training plans.  One of the best features, is that this application has a strong user base and community behind it.  You can find people to motivate you and provide you with a very helpful fitness advice.  I’m only scratching the surface on what it can do.  The best way to experience it is to sign up for the free plan yourself.  It’s enough to get you started, but should you need more from it they have an annual subscription plans starting at only $49.95.

You can get any of these items individually or as a bundle. If you shop around online you can definitely get them all (depending on the weight and brand needed to get started) for under $100.

This article was originally posted on www.ptinto.com

Image courtesy of jasonEscapist

Got a minute or two? Would you mind filling out a survey? A good friend of mine, fellow personal trainer and a guest blogger at GetFitWithAndrei.com, Eric Astrauskas put together a fitness survey aimed gaining insight into exercise habits and what everyone looks for when hiring a personal trainer.

For more information and to fill out the survey, please visit Eric’s website at www.ptinto.com/Survey Your input would be greatly appreciated.

Always Be Challenging yourself.  How do you expect to get better at something, or get stronger, get faster, leaner or even make more money if you don’t challenge yourself?  Take yourself back to the days when you were starting to learn how to read, how to count and ride a bike.  You started with letters and their sounds, you started with single digits, you started with training wheels.  Then, even though you probably resisted and avoided to progress, little by little you were challenged by your own ambitions, parents and friends.

Before you knew it, you were able to put words and sentences together, you could add and subtract, and you could ride without the training wheels.  It didn’t happen over night; you chipped away at it.  Your were committed to get better.  But why doesn’t the same happen when you commit yourself to a healthier lifestyle, or at least a fitness program?

I don’t care what your fitness goals are, you will never achieve them if you don’t challenge yourself.  You always have to do better than the previous rep, set, workout.  You always have to make even better nutrition decisions.  You always have to push yourself to run just a second faster, a yard longer and lift just a pound more.  How do you expect things to change if all you do is the same?

Keep learning

A higher level of learning is associated with better mental functioning at any age. Experts think that advanced education may help keep memory strong by getting a person into the habit of being mentally active. Challenging your brain with mental exercise is believed to activate individual brain cells and stimulate communication among them. Many people have jobs that keep them mentally active, but pursuing a hobby, learning a new skill, or volunteering for a project at work can keep your brain sharp.

Use all your senses

The more senses you use in learning something, the more of your brain will be involved in retaining the memory. So challenge all your senses as you venture into the unfamiliar.

Believe in yourself

Myths about aging can contribute to a failing memory. People who believe that they are not in control of their memory function — joking about “senior moments” too often, perhaps — are less likely to work at maintaining or improving their memory skills and therefore are more likely to experience cognitive decline. If you believe you can improve, chances are you will!

Prioritize your brain use

Take advantage of calendars and planners, maps, shopping lists, file folders, and address books to keep routine information accessible. Designate a place at home for your glasses, purse, keys, and other items you use often.

Repeat what you want to know

When you want to remember something you’ve just heard, read, or thought about, repeat it out loud or write it down. That way, you reinforce the memory or connection.

Could nuts be one of the secret ingredients to weight loss? Nuts are dense little packages of fat and protein, with most of the fat being the healthful, unsaturated kind. Apart from weight issues, nuts seem to have some protective effects against heart disease. They don’t contribute much in the way of vitamins but make up for it by supplying respectable amounts of potassium, magnesium, and several other required minerals.

Dieters have tended to stay away from nuts because the fat content makes them a high-calorie food. It doesn’t help that we tend to shovel them in as snacks, not as part of meals, but nuts contain very little carbohydrate, so they’re showing up in low-carb diets these days, particularly the ones that emphasize plant-based foods.

Nuts as a meal may not sound very appealing. But cookbooks are full of recipes that incorporate nuts into pasta dishes and the like. And it would be easy for most of us to add almonds or walnuts to a bowl of cereal or low-fat yogurt at breakfast and occasionally eat a meatless lunch or dinner.

“Harvard researchers have uncovered strong links between women’s job stress and cardiovascular disease. Findings from the Women’s Health Study (WHS) — a landmark inquiry into disease prevention involving more than 17,000 female health professionals — show that women whose work is highly stressful have a 40% increased risk of heart disease (including heart attacks and the need for coronary artery surgery) compared with their less-stressed colleagues. The results, which were presented at an American Heart Association meeting in 2010, also showed that women who worry about losing their jobs are more likely to have high blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels and to be obese.”

Possible mechanisms

The body is programmed to react to life-threatening stress (“The house is on fire!”) with a “fight-or-flight” response, in which the brain triggers a cascade of chemicals and hormones that speed the heart rate, quicken breathing, increase blood pressure, and boost the amount of energy (sugar) supplied to muscles. Unfortunately, the body does a poor job of discriminating between grave, imminent dangers and less momentous ongoing sources of stress, such as financial difficulties, job strain, and even worries about potential problems that haven’t yet arisen. When the fight-or-flight response is chronically in the “on” position, the body suffers.

What can you do?

The stress induced by excessive demands and too little control is not unique to the workplace. Many women have multiple concurrent jobs — for example, caring for children, aging parents, or other relatives while running a household and working outside the home — often without the resources to manage them all. Situations like this may be unavoidable, and in a tight job market, you may feel there’s little you can do to make your work life less stressful. Nevertheless, there are steps you can take, including these:

We all look for ways to burn extra calories without putting in too much effort or feeling the pain of a grueling workout. Here’s an idea on how you can burn extra calories during your workouts: re-rack weights. That’s it.  While taking a 1 minute break between your exercise sets why don’t you re-rack weights that other people left on the equipment.  Simply return the weights to their proper holding station.  It doesn’t require much energy but you will burn extra calories.

In addition, with time, you will build up additional strength in your upper and lower body.  All you have to do is walk back and forth a couple of times between exercise equipment and the weight rack carrying 10lbs, 25lbs, 35lbs or 45lbs plates.  I am not advocating spending your whole time at the gym doing this, but I am recommending another way to make your workouts even more efficient.  Doing this will help keep your heart rate stay in the target zone and consequently you’ll end up burning more calories during your workouts.