All about Weightlifting and Weight Loss

How is it going? Did you find at least one or two tips in my last article which you have fun to apply?

Today I want to talk about the most powerful motivators you can have. They depend not all on yourself, but they can keep you going motivated for a long time, if the other persons envolved are suitable to you:

Workout Partners: The best motivation is somebody else with a like goal that wants to accomplish what you want as well. When you feel down and out and not really into it, this person might pull you along. When you can't get that last rep out, they are there to give you a spot. Its so much easier to have a training partner you can trust that motivates you. If they are a little competitive that might not hurt either. You can both use each others energy to push yourself. When you are accountable for something, its harder to back out.

Classes: Many people want to workout but feel without structure, they just get lost and bored. Being in a class can really help focus in on your goals with structured objectives in mind. If you dont like working out alone, a class might be an ideal option. Especially when you dont know where to begin and you like the idea of instruction.

Personal Trainer: Sometimes they get a bad rap, but if you find a good one, then paying for a mentor is precisely what you need. Shelling out $70 or more for a package of training sessions can really motivate you to keep going. They are also your paid training partner. They can help push you and adjust your program for progressive resistance and growth. Not only are you accountable (spending money) but a good personal trainer can help design you a program and nutritional plan that meets your needs. Everybody should have a personal trainer at some point. Their watchful eye on your exercise form is critical as well. Not all personal trainers are worth their weight in gold so be aware and find somebody you like and trust.

New Routines: One of my favorite motivational techniques is to try something new. When your routine becomes boring and stagnant, there's nothing like trying new stuff to spice it up and keep you interested. You are engaging in fitness for life. That doesnt mean you have to do the same old boring routine for the rest of your life! Having a new plan of action can keep you mentally fresh and your body challenged. These are just some of the techniques you can use to keep yourself motivated in the short term. How to make it to the gym day in and day out no matter what the weather is like or how you feel (unless you are sick of course).

Use as many of these ideas as you are comfortable with and I'm sure you'll make it to have fun in your work outs. You'll look forward to your next routine and you'll fly to your gym.

Do you know that most people go about gaining muscle or burning fat completely the wrong way? Not only in the technical aspects of it, but they don’t have any fun doing it. It’s a stinking chore to go to the gym. They hate the food part. It’s a nightmare and any excuse they can find not to go, they’ll find it. This is why about April, all the New Year’s people are gone.

Fun. That’s right. Feel the fun in your work outs and feel the fun of being fit.

Here are some tips that may help you get motivated to get to the gym in the short term. This list is not all inclusive, but it does have some things you can use to keep yourself going to the gym long after the New Year’s crowd has quit. The first three are following, the others will come in my next issue(s):

Photos: Pictures can be very inspirational! Regardless of what you think of those magazines, having a picture to look at is helpful in letting your mind capture an image of what you want. Once your mind has the image, you will start to take actions in life to accomplish that. I recall when I wanted my first bicycle, I used visualization techniques. I kept looking at the pictures over and over each night. Eventually I got my bicycle! This worked for getting a new car, a house and just about everything else. Once I could visualize what I wanted, my mind helped me to take actions to set my body in motion.

Set Small Goals: Sometimes it’s much easier to think of getting around the next corner then it is to look at the big picture. Imagine you would drive a ralley. You have many goals before you reach the end - actually you have to make a goal for everyday of the journey. These small goals keep you going. Rather than look at the final objective all the time, use land markers to keep you going from one point to another.

A technique you can use at the gym. Set weekly goals (1 lb a week) rather than looking at what you want to accomplish a year from now. Get the fun of reaching weekly goals and if you find your goal was set to high, set it again for the next week or set it smaller. Just be sure to set reachable goals that you don’t need any excuses (which would demotivate). Later, when you feel more sure of yourself, you may set monthly or quarterly goals to motivate you even more. You can also change the outlay of your weekly goals in many ways to get your fun, i.e. one week about increasing weight, one about leg work, one about increase of resistance and another about your diet etc.

Music: A classic motivator. Personally it distracts me. But for many, their favorite mix jam is just what they need to get into the zone and feel amped up. If you like music and it doesn’t bother you at all, then consider it for an extra boost when you don’t feel like working out. Music can easily put you into the mood.

Try these and they’ll keep you going. The longer you keep going the more you’ll get the fun of working out and burning fat and feeling fit.

Soon more about it…

Did you think about the benefits of using herbs and spices to speed up your weight loss efforts?

We all know that herbs and spices are used with cooking to varying degrees, and of course the primary reason for doing so is to make food much more tasty and interesting.

I suspect however that you might be surprised at the considerable benefits for losing weight that you can gain by using some of them. In saying this I am referring to those everyday items that can be found in most larders, and not necessarily those exotic and probably not so well known varieties.

I happened to discover the many benefits of herbs and spices and the fact that they can be most beneficial to a weight loss program, when I was doing extremely detailed research for my latest book. Here I just want to describe you a few selected items which you could easily find from any good herbal supplier:

Garcinia: (Garcinia cambogia) is a herb which is primarily for enhancing weight loss and boosting the growth of lean muscle. It is also better known as hila or brindell berry.

One of the major benfits of Garcinia is that it acts as an appetite suppressant and stops the body from storing fat.

Pysillium: (Plantago spp.) This cheeky little herb has quite a few health benefits. Physillium is known to help lower cholesterol, and another major benefit is that it also helps to prevent constipation. However, please drink plenty of water - it is specially important with this herb - to get the most benefits out of it.

If you use it as part of your weight loss program, it can help you to eat less calories and yet still feel really full. This is because of the amount of fibers that it contains.

Siberian Gingsing: (Eleutherococcus senticosus) If you are going to start regular exercise or weightlifting as part of your health and weight loss routine, which is normally to be highly recommended, then this is a really useful herb.

It can help your body adapt to the stress of unaccustomed changes, and it will help to make you feel less tired even when you are not used to doing even simple exercises like walking for example. So, you are more likely to stick to your exercise routine.

Cayenne: (also known as Capsicum, hot pepper, chilli pepper, tabasco pepper). The majority of us have cayenne in our larders, and it is very commonly used in many food dishes. Cayenne can be found in many forms such as ground spices, teas, and would you believe it, in topical creams.

It is well known for its antitoxidant action, and greatly helps with osteoathritis and rhumatoid athritis, shingles, and diabetic neuropathy.

Cayenne is known since ages as an accelerator for digestion and helps to burn fat, specially when you take it in dishes with high protein values and low carbo and low fat ingredients. A word of caution however: Cayenne may also irritate the intestinal tract, if used excessively.

Fennel: This herb (also spice and vegetable) is native to the Mediterranean and widely utilized throughout the world. You can find it in teas, capsules, tinctures and lozenges.

Fennel can be used to help with bloating, flatulence, mild digestive spasms, catarrh, and coughs. It also has antimicrobal, antispasmodic, and anti inflammatory properties.

It lowers appetite and it takes a longer time to get the feeling hunger. Not everyone likes the taste, but you can actually use little quantities in every kind of dishes with vegetable, fish or meat. I like it specially in soups.

Garlic: Whether you get this fresh or dried, the downside of garlic is the odour which it leaves on your breath, but chewing some parsley after eating will soon sort out that problem. Another trick: Use only the juice - the odour will hardly be recognized even when taken raw.

Garlic is also known to help stimulate the immune system, and to help in fighting cancer. Well documented health benefits include lowering cholesterol, fighting infections, and reducing blood pressure.

These are just a few of the herbs and spices you can use in cooking, but remember that there are many many more, and the benefits in using them frequently can be quite remarkable.

Of course you will realize to use them sparingly as part of any dish, as when you add too much, it would just spoil the meal. As with everything in life one should try and strike a balance, you know the saying: “all things in moderation”.

Hope to inspire you to make frequent use of those natural helpers.

Do you have something that was helpful to you? Don’t hesitate to share it with us.

Juergen