There are a few items on the menu that would make for better choices than others. McDonalds has done an amazing job in recent years to try and accomodate the more health concious consumer. Here is a list of things that you may want to consider ordering next time you are there:

1) Grilled chicken wraps with no sauce

2) Grilled chicken sandwich no sauce

3) Regular Hamburgers

4) Fries with no salt

These are just a few examples of things that will be lower in bad fat and lighter on your system. We all know that having cravings is natural and we should reward ourselves once in a while. So if McDonalds is one of those things that you enjoy to eat….make sure you get some on your next cheat day. Just make sure that you get back to the gym the next day and keep to your routine and workout.

Never fear healthtipper does have some good tips to help you avoid breaking your nutriotional requirements.

1) Drink water instead of reaching for that bag of chips. Water is an essential requirement to help flush away toxins and keep your system clean. It also help to fill your belly preventing you from wanting to eat junk.

2) Chew gum. For some of us we are addicted to bad habbits. And in this case it might just be habbit for you to eat, so chewing gum will help your mouth stay busy.

3) Idle mind makes a hungry body. If you are constantly sitting around with nothing to do or stimulate your mind or body you may just result to eating food to keep yourself occupied. Recognize this and keep yourself active. Get off the couch and do something! Anything is better than nothing.

4) Dont sit around is sweat pants. Sitting around in your stretchy clothes is a great way to decieve yourself. You are not doing yourself any favors. If you sit around in your clothes that you would wear out like your jeans and a fitted t shirt it will help remind you that your body is not a garbage can that needs to filled with trash.

5) Choose the right snacks. No one is saying not to eat but if you know that you are a habitual muncher then chosing the right stuff to eat will take you and your body a long way. Get rid of the chocolate and cookies and go for the carrots and celery.

These are just a few things that may help to keep you away from eating out of boredom. We want to hear your ideas as well.

1) Stop eating fast food. Let get serious folks we cant expect to eat McDonalds and Burger King and not expect to get fat. Start by organizing your meals. Keep track of what you eat and dont just eat anything for the sake of getting full.

2) Get into some sort of training routine. I dont care if that routine just starts with you going for a walk with your friend around the neighborhood. The idea is to start with something. We all have different fitness levels. If you find that walking around the block is a hard task and it causes you to sweat then its a step in the right direction. If this becomes to easy then up the ante. Start doing longer walks or go to the gym and get a trainer to start training you.

3) Stop drinking alochol. A while back I wrote an article about the negative affect of consuming empty calories from liquor you can find that article here “Drinking booze will make me fat”. There is no benefit to adding empty calories to your diet that do not assist in the devlopment of muscle mass.

4) Hang around people with a common interest. If most of you friends enjoy sitting around and smoking cigarettes and eating junk food, chances are you will join along with their acitivities. Try to find people who enjoy things like going to the gym or playing sports. This will help to keep you motivated.

5) Make it fun. This has got to be the single most important thing on the road to getting back into shape. Always make sure that no matter what you are doing that it stays fresh and fun. From lifting weights to shooting hoops.

These are just a few things to try when thinking of getting back into shape. We always want to hear your stories so post your comments and help out the other people with some ideas.

1) before work

2) workout at lunch

3) hit the gym after work

But really…out of these three times what is the best?

Studies have been done that indicate getting up in the morning and burning calories on an empty stomach can help to burn away at the fat cells stored around your desired six pack. And for those of you who have tried this I am sure that you have seen some sort of positive results. An added benefit to working out before work is a jump start of energy. The only issue that we can see to doing this not being at full strength, thus causing you to sacrifice on what your body is capable of doing

Lunch time workouts seem to be a great time to squeeze into the gym, granted you have at least an hour and there is a gym close by your office. Looks like the secret is out on this one, everyone else seems to want to get their gym time in as well. You may end up having to sacrifice on some exercises since machines or weights might be used by other gym members. Also another down side would be having to rush back to the office and finding sometime to feed yourself after your workout. Some people may not have this luxury, and we all know how bad it is to run on an empty stomach.

Last but not least hitting the gym after work. Your day is now over and you can concentrate on lifting weights or doing cardio. This maybe the busiest time of day for any gym. If you thought that lunch time was busy after work is a gong show. But you are almost guaranteed to get through your exercises fairly quick since most people will be looking to do the same and get out of there. The alternative to after work would be after dinner. If you are able to you may get the most out of the gym at that time. Since most people will be couch srufing or watching tv.

As you can see there really is no best time to workout. Really the best time is what works best for you. All we hope is that you getup and go!

Be honest with yourself folks if you are going to workout, the WORKOUT! Dont go into the gym for social hour. You can do that any time of the day. Why waste the precious time you have there just to try and chat with your friends?

Some things that I have found that helped me out while I am there are:

1) setting a schedule of exercises I want to accomplish in the gym the night before

2) bringing a stop watch with me to time my rest periods.

3) listening to my ipod so I am not distracted by socializing

4) carrying my own bottle of water so I dont have to keep walking back to the fountain

If you keep to these things you will shorten the time you spend in the gym and accomplish more of your goals in term getting the results that you want. Best of luck to all of you and post up some comments.

About a year or so ago I was looking into doing some new exercises and routines and a friend of mine had introduced me to a kettle bell workout. At the time it was a great way to shake things up and it really helped keep my heart rate going while building some serious core strength. There was one exercise in particular that really stood out and forced me to get out of my comfort zone. Let me introduce to you THE TURKISH GET UP! This exercise is a good indicator of your full body strength and will push the limit as to what your body can really handle. As I am sure most of you know I am a big supporter of compound exercises but the Turkish Get up is much more. It is a full body workout with significant benefits for those looking to lose weight or just get stronger. When done properly the movement engages your Quads, Core/Abs, lower back, shoulders, arms, ham strings, glutes and calves. I dare anyone to find another exercise that works all those muscle groups in one exercise.

Lets go through the movements of the exercise.

1) Lay flat on the floor with your right arm pointing towards the ceiling holding a dumbelland your right leg bent at 90 degrees so your knee is pointing to the ceiling and your left arm is on the ground pointing 45 degrees outward with your left leg flat on the floor.

2) Start by performing a crunch and slowly turning your core so that your body turning to its left side. Then push your body onto your left arm so that all the weight is now pushing on to your left fore arm. the dumbell should still be facing the ceiling.

3) Post your left arm so that you are now on the palm of your hand and lift your butt off the ground. Your left leg should also be 3-4 inches off the ground with your butt and the dumbell should still be facing the ceiling.

4) Swing your left leg backwards so that you are in a lunge position with the dumbell facing the ceiling.

5) From this position all you want to do is stand straight up.

Did you get all of that? Cmon it sounds easy right?? Ideally you want to do about 5-8 reps per side. Below I have attached a video that should better explain the movements. Try to incoporate this into your routine at least once a week. This exercise is guaranteed to make you sweat and lose weight!

Turkish Getup

The answer is not as simple as yes or no. Depending on the amount of liquor you consume you really need to add those calories to the daily intake that you have already consumed. The reality is its not always the booze that gets you. It tends to be the eating after drinking that really kills your diet and physique. How many times have you gone out to the bar or night club and drank yourslef silly, only to walk out at the end of the night and go straight to the Mcdonalds or Burger King drive through. Cmon people be honest! We have all done it one time or another.

If this sounds anything like you or someone you know, you are not doing yourself any favors. Not only have you consumed the daily calories; you have now added the alcohol and the garbage that you ate at the end of the night.

Let me give you an example. Lets say you have worked your daily calorie intake to be roughly 2000 calories per day. And on a Friday night you decided to head out with your friend to gave a few drinks. Maybe your drinking consisted of 6 beers, 2 double vodkas and a couple of shots. All those drinks could add up to what you were suppose to consume for the whole day. Now lets say after the club you and your friends decided to grab that fast food that you guys love so much. Maybe you ended up eating a Big Mac combo, not super sized because you are watching your girlish figure. Now you have added an additional 1200 calories to that daily diet. In total you have consumed roughly 5000 or so calories for that day alone.

Really???? 5000 Calories??? But that is more than 2 days worth of food? Thats right! So ask yourself…is it worth it? How are you going to get rid of all that junk in your body? Its quite obvious that you can not go without food for the next day. So the next time you are out just for a few drinks with your friends make sure that you keep this article in mind.

Lets say you just ate breakfast. And for this specific meal there were two choices. Choice number one was bowl of kellogs frosted flakes with 2% milk and choice number two was egg whites with flax seed bread. If both choices had the same amount of calories, which meal would be the better pick? If your chose the egg whites with flax bread then you have made the right decision. Regardless of the fact that the calories were the same, your body will respond better to the food without the simple carbs and sugars.

That leads me to my next point. When eating try to limit the amount of sugar you intake. Since there is no nutritionaly value to sugar there is no point to indulge in it. If you do plan on having sugar, make sure that is on the day that you planned your cheat meal.

From here out everytime you eat a meal make sure that you are making the healthy choice. Its all up to you.

Start by setting the actual day that you are planning on cheating. Personally I like to chose a weekend or rest day. The reason I do this is so the days that I am at the gym I dont feel like I am lagging due to the no purpose calories I have consumed. And personally I come from the school of thought that if you have just worked out then you should feed yourself immedeatly after with some calories that have substance to rebuild your muscles.

Remember that your cheat day is earned and well deserved and if you reward yourself in this manner then you are more likely to stick to your goals.

The key to success is seeing results and the only way to do that is to do the following:

1) Set a goal. Go out and buy yourself a target outfit. Something that you want to look good in. Not necessarily a outfit that is 3 sizes to small but maybe a fitted outfit that is not forgiving if you have unwanted fat.

2)Stay away from sugars. Sugar is one of your bodies worst enemies. It will bring you quick energy and make you crash.

3) Workout with a training partner. Having a partner not only helps you lift those extra reps but they will also keep you motivated to keep going.

4) Try to be in the gym earlier in the day. I used to use my lunch break to hit the gym. Personally I found going to the gym after work tiring.

5) Try new routines. If you are stuck in the same old rut of Chest on Mondays and Back on Tuesdays etc….mix it up. Do muscle groups that you would not normally do on different days or mix muscle groups together.

Getting to a new and better physique is all in your own mind. You have to want it in order to get it. Try the steps above and see if they help you break the rut.