The Mounting Evidence

The short-term benefits of exercise, as many of you may already know of, are the reasons why a great majority of people do it. Exercise makes you stronger, increases your stamina, elevates mood and increases overall happiness and self-image. These reasons are enough to get the majority of people to keep exercising, but what one doesn’t realize is that there are many ways that exercise can help you in the long-run. Exercise boosts your immune system, helps prevent disease, increases circulation of blood and nutrients, and helps flush the body of toxins (clearing and promoting healthy skin) and can strengthen the walls of the heart.

Exercise Can Boost Immune Function

Early studies reported that daily exercisers reported fewer colds once they began running. Moderate exercise has been linked to a positive immune system response and a temporary boost in the production of macrophages, the cells that attack bacteria. It is believed that regular, consistent exercise can lead to substantial benefits in immune system health over the long-term. This claim is backed up by more recent studies that have shown that there are physiological changes in the immune system as a response to exercise. During moderate exercise immune cells circulate through the body more quickly and are better able to kill bacteria and viruses. After exercise ends, the immune system generally returns to normal within a few hours, but consistent, regular exercise seems to make these changes a bit more long-lasting.

Exercise and Fitness Prevent Disease

That is a proven fact, and yet more Americans than ever are suffering from obesity and type-two diabetes and are considered an epidemic in the United States. If you are overweight, and especially if you are obese, or if you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, then listen to your doctor and begin a regular fitness and exercise program. You’ll be glad you did. One of the benefits of fitness and exercise, as any physician will tell you, it that fitness and exercise help control blood sugar. A diabetic who takes medication daily may find that less medication is needed with a regular fitness and exercise program. Many diabetics who stay with fitness and exercise programs find that they are able to quit the medication and get their diabetes under control in a totally natural way. Triglycerides are also too high for most Americans. High triglycerides are linked to heart disease, including heart attacks and strokes. A great natural way to reduce your level of triglycerides is to simply begin and stick with a fitness and exercise program, while eating a sensible diet. Triglycerides at too high a level are also linked to high blood sugar, and it is common for diabetics to have high triglyceride levels. Therefore, in this case fitness and exercise can take care of two potential health risks at the same time.

Many people have marveled at the way being overweight has become an American way of life, and wondered what caused it. Many point to sedentary lifestyles, working in front of computers, and watching too much television. In addition, many Americans eat diets high in fat and carbohydrates. Whatever the root cause, fitness and exercise can be a major part of the cure. Engaging in physical activity, increasing the heart rate, and just getting active can help a person lose weight, control triglyceride levels and improve diabetes and should not be ignored. Parents should restrict time spent by children with video games or watching television and encourage them to engage in fitness and exercise the way children in past generations have, playing games like baseball, basketball and jump rope. Children who learn the benefits of fitness and exercise at an early age will go into adults, who enjoy fitness and exercise, lead healthier lifestyles and tend to live longer, healthier and obviously happier lives.

Exercise Can Affect the Brain Positively

Exercise leads to the release of certain neurotransmitters in the brain that help decrease pain, both physical and mental. Exercise exerts its effects on the brain through several mechanisms, including neurogenesis (creation of new neurons), mood enhancement, and endorphin release. Aerobic exercise strengthens neural connections by increasing the number of connections between neurons, creating a denser network, which is then better able to process and store information. Exercise stimulates the release of endorphins within 30 minutes from the start of activity. These endorphins tend to minimize the discomfort of exercise and are even associated with a feeling of euphoria (runners high). It has also been shown that physically active people recover from mild depression more quickly, and physical activity is strongly correlated with good mental health as people age.

Other Research

A study conducted at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston showed that exercise is three times more important in helping you live longer than characteristics in your genes. Smoking, diabetes, obesity and hypertension significantly reduced the likelihood of a 90-year life span, while regular vigorous exercise substantially improved it. Researchers studied almost 2,400 men in an attempt to investigate how to have a longer life span. An estimated 41% of participants, actively exercising, lived to be 90 or over, with the variation in human life spans found to be linked to variables such as smoking, diet and exercise.

New research suggests that a few hours of walking or other exercise each week may help breast cancer survivors live longer. In the study of nearly 3,000 women, those who exercised this amount were less likely to die of their breast cancer than women who got less than 1 hour of physical activity each week.

Another eight-year study evaluated the fitness and mortality levels of 13,344 men and women. Researchers involved with the study found that exercise reduces the death rate from all causes, particularly cancer and heart disease. The subjects were grouped by gender into five categories ranging from least to most fit. The results of the study, which were published in the Journal of The American Medical Association, showed that the higher the fitness level the lower the death rate. Compared with the most-fit subjects, individuals in the least-fit category had death rates 3.4 and 4.6 times higher for men and women respectively.

The results from these studies and the facts listed above should be powerful enough information to get you to start exercising. A modest amount of exercise can and does go a long way. Even if it is only 30 minutes of walking every day; that is a big step up from no exercise at all. Exercise has no age requirement: people of all ranges should exercise to reap the many positive long-term benefits.

Why Supplement?

Some of you might say, “I am young, energetic and gifted with terrific genes so I don’t need any of those supplements.” This is arguably true. Only if you are not a competitive bodybuilder. If you only look at bodybuilding as a leisure activity, then supplementation is indeed not necessary. You just need to eat the right foods, sleep well and drink lots of water and you should be good to go. But if you take bodybuilding seriously, you should know that having supplements is more than gulping down those protein shakes.

You see, average people only need to have enough sleep/rest, a good diet and lots of water. That is to ensure that his or her body would be properly fueled for the normal day to day activity. But for bodybuilders like you and me, who rips our muscle tissues apart during an enormous workout session, we need added support to increase stamina and ensure quick muscle recovery.

This is where supplements play their most important role. Supplements provides the body with the extra help and boost it needs to rebuild those muscle tissues that were ripped during the workout; to help the muscle fibers recover faster while preventing the buildup of body fats during sleep; and to keep the body energized for an extended period of time. We’ll discuss each supplement further in this article.

Nitric Oxide: New School Power Formula

One part Nitrogen and one part Oxygen. That’s what comprises Nitric Oxide. And what does it do? It helps the body do 3 things. Repair, maintain and defend body cells. Quite a function if you ask me. Even though Nitric Oxide is produced naturally by the human body, most people don’t produce enough of it to achieve optimal health. The truth is that the older we get, the less Nitric Oxide our bodies produce. Here is where supplementation comes in.

Bodybuilders are particularly interested with the fact that nitric oxide enhances the flow of blood into the muscles. This is because better blood flow delivers additional nutrients to muscles resulting into larger and bigger muscles. It also lessens inflammation which, in a layman’s term means decrease pain experienced when putting muscles to extreme stress. In addition, nitric oxide affects the release of adrenaline which explains why you normally experience increased pump and vascularity during workouts when you ingest NO prior to doing your routine. I personally recommend Gaspari Nutrition‘s SuperPump 250 as the product to beat for this particular supplement.

The Mighty Builder – Glutamine

Glutamine is one-half of two amino acids that are critical to human health with the other half being glutamate. In humans, animals, and plants, glutamine and glutamate are transformed into each other as part of numerous physiological processes. Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the human body and is mainly stored in the musculature.

Although Glutamine can be found naturally in food sources such as beans, poultry, fish and dairy products, in order to consume a highly beneficial amount, taking it in powdered form as a nutritional supplement is highly-recommended. You may be asking why take it in high amounts. If you are a serious bodybuilder, you need to read this. Glutamine is one of the best anti-catabolic agents that reduces the rate of muscle breakdown resulting from hours of excruciating muscle building routines.

Glutamine is also highly beneficial on the body’s immune system. Not only are your muscles heavily stressed from your workouts, but your entire immune system is stressed as well. Glutamine will help you to recover quicker in between your workouts and will also help to prevent you from getting sick.

For this one, I suggest Prolab Glutamine Powder as it provides 4500 mg of L-Glutamine per serving. You can easily get a 1kg pack at the A1 store for just 39.95 USD.

The Big Star – Protein

Do I need to say more about the importance of protein supplementation? Nevertheless, let me give you a brief yet meaty advice that you could follow to ensure an adequate amount of protein intake via supplements.

Whey protein is a bodybuilding staple that should be taken several times a day. As a recommendation, you can take a serving of whey protein shake first thing in the morning to help stop the catabolic effect of the overnight fast that you had in your sleep. It is also important to ingest a serving before and immediately after workouts.

Casein protein, though not as popular as its whey counterpart, has specific benefits because of its slow-digesting properties. This means that ingesting casein protein powder provides a steady stream of amino acids to the muscles for hours which makes it ideal to take before hitting the sack at night.

I believe that everyone would agree with me when I say that Optimum Nutrition‘s protein products are tops in this aspect. You could grab a casein or whey product by ON at a low price of 25.95 per 2 lbs.
Supplements

The Underrated Combo – Arginine And Carnitine

With all the talks about the more popular bodybuilding supplements, more often than not, both arginine and carnitine are most commonly set aside. Most people focus on protein and creatine when in fact, arginine and carnitine provide equally important benefits to the muscles.

Arginine, or L-arginine, is an amino acid that is needed to keep the liver, skin, joints, and muscles healthy. It strengthens the body’s immune system, regulates hormones and blood sugar, and promotes male fertility. As a bodybuilding supplement, arginine helps drive more blood into the muscles during training bringing with it more oxygen, nutrients and hormones that aid in muscle growth. This process increases the pump and is helpful when combined with NO to get that unbelievable growth-inducing vascularity when blasting the irons. Ideally, you need to take in 5 grams of arginine an hour before you hit the gym. You could try Arginine 1000 that sells for just 12.95 per 100 tablet bottle from the A1 store.

On the other hand, Carnitine is an amino acid-like substance that is very important in energy production and fat metabolism. According to Robert Crayhon, author of The Carnitine Miracle; Carnitine is “the most important nutrient for naturally supporting the weight loss process.” This is the reason why most fat burning supplements in the market today include carnitine as part of the product’s ingredients when in fact, most only contains 50 mg. This amount is considered insignificant in weight loss promotion and energy boosting. Most experts agree that the ideal carnitine dosage per day should be between 1,000 to 4,000 mg; for one to enjoy its weight loss benefits. I suggest taking 2 capsules of Universal Carnitine LEN half an hour before eating, right before a workout or a couple of hours after a full meal. It only costs 21.95 per 60 capsule bottle at the A1 store..

Personal Supplement Stack

As a serious bodybuilder for the past 2 years, I have been an advocate of proper supplementation. And when I say proper supplementation, this means that I take into consideration all aspects of my health in conjunction with regular medical check-ups. That being said, let me outline my personal supplement stack.

I have the following:

• ON 100% Whey Protein – Taken first thing in the morning right after getting out of bed
• PRO-NOS Whey Isolate and Cytosport MuscleMilk – Daily Meal Replacement for meals 2 and 4
• ON 100% Casein Protein – Ingested before bedtime
• Gaspari Nutrition SuperPump 250 – Pre-Workout drink
• Universal Torrent – Post Workout drink
• Arginine 1000 – 3 tabs per day
• Carnitine LEN – 3 caps per day
• Multivitamins – 1 capsule daily

The above are my daily supplement stack and I combine it with a low-carb high-protein whole meal diet for maximum weight loss and mass gain. And as an added advise. Don’t forget to drink water. Lots and lots of water to make sure that you’re body is properly hydrated for the whole day.

1: Be Patient!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fallen off the horse because I did not see results as quickly as I had hoped. While I believe it to be true that nobody physically advances at the rate they hope for, I have a notoriously stubborn body. It took me a while to realize that achieving my ideal shape would be that much sweeter because I had to work for it harder than others.

The truth is, virtually nobody embarks on a fitness program doing all the right things. Either their diet is faulty, the workout routines are ineffective, or the participants lifestyle is non-conducive to the achieving of their own goals. It has taken some people a lifetime to get all the pieces of the puzzle together. I certainly did not. My puzzle was definitely missing a few vital pieces, and because this led to ultimate failure, I quit my routine several times in the past. I wish I had been more patient as I learned to refine my lifestyle and routine.

2: Be Diligent

The key to being diligent in a workout program is to make it as much a part of the daily grind as brushing your teeth or taking a shower. I noticed in the past that skipping gym days led down a very slippery slope. To exacerbate the situation, I would often skip the gym to pursue very unhealthy activities, like nights out drinking. Next thing you know, I had completely fallen off the wagon. Once I started thinking about hitting the gym as something I had to do or needed to do, instead of something that was optional based on my mood, I was finally locked in. When you hit the gym like more depends on it than just breaking a sweat, it is a completely different experience. It’s a pump like no other.

3: Give it Your All

One of my biggest problems has always been pushing my limits at the gym. Especially when I’m working out alone, I have had a tendency to cut my sets short, or wimp out on the weight. Part of it is my need to be more in tune with my body’s limits. In the past, however, I lacked the psychological drive and motivation to really push muscle groups to failure. One major help in this area was acquiring a workout partner, which I will discuss later. Even without someone else’s motivational energy, I have slowly figured out how to push myself to my limits. By focusing on how far I had come, and how far I wanted to go with my goals, my psychological factor was finally dialed in. I just wish that I had figured it out sooner.

4: Shake it Up!

Sure, there is something to be said for having a bread-n-butter workout routine, but it shouldn’t be the same repetitive, brainless endeavor every single time. The old me would hit the gym every workout day at the same time, doing the same exercises without any variation in form, quantity, or set/rep set-up. Not only did my body acclimatize to the workouts and halted muscular hypertrophy, but workouts became so boring that I soon found myself completely disinterested in hitting the gym at all. My new program has a backbone of tried-and-true exercises like deadlifts, bench presses, and squats, but allows me to throw new or modified exercises in on a daily basis to stimulate new muscle growth. It also allows me to be intellectually creative in the gym, changing my workouts from a brainless ritual into a complete workout for my body and mind.

5: Listen to Your Body

This rule is probably the hardest for me to truly follow, and I have struggled with it for years. It’s not that I wasn’t trying to listen to my body in the past, but I’m pretty sure it was speaking Spanish at the time, or at least it seemed that way. At any given time, I could be over or under-training my muscle groups and not have known any better. I would also occasionally throw my back or tweak my neck doing certain workouts with bad form or inappropriate weight. I wasn’t listening to my stomach either. Frequently, I ate too much of the wrong things and not enough of the right things, and my energy levels and body fat percentage struggled as a result.

Finding the right amount and type of calories to eat has been far more challenging than I could have anticipated. However, I am much closer to the right balance now than I used to be. For instance, I used to consume roughly 90-120g of protein a day at 190 lbs. Now, at 225 lbs, I consume about 250-275g of protein a day, with a healthy balance of fiber and complex carbs, all while consuming roughly 30-40 less grams of fats a day.

6: Lifting is Only 1 Part of the Equation

I used to believe that if I hit the gym a few times a week, I could eat however I want and run up bar bills every night. I quickly learned that one side of the scale does not balance out the other. I only started to see minimal progress once I overhauled my nutrition and lifestyle to better suit a healthy life. You simply will not get six pack abs by downing a six-pack of beer on a nightly basis. I tried, and it wasn’t pretty. After cutting back on the junk food and late nights out, I realized I also needed to start some cardio.

I have traditionally avoided running like most people avoid root canals, but it really was my best option for shedding the fat. With my cardiovascular overhaul, I found I also had more energy in the gym as a result. While it took me a very long time to realize it, all the other changes I made in my diet and lifestyle created a positive feedback loop that trickled into each and every workout in the gym. I now have more energy, stamina, and raw strength than ever before in my life, far more than I could have achieved though bodybuilding alone.

7: Ignore the Myths

My goodness, I have heard some ludicrous things. “Eat turkey and cauliflower after every workout… it’s like steroids!”, or “Do a set of 10 pushups every morning before work, and you’ll get huge”. There is a lot a bull-crap to sift through out there. One dead giveaway of the nature of such claims should have been that the people telling me such things were either much smaller than me or completely out of shape altogether. That’s like Lindsay Lohan teaching an AA twelve step program if you ask me.

Once I integrated myself and my own experiences into the gym community, I was able to draw off of other people’s successes and failures to draw my own conclusions. I was able to see in real time what was working for people and what wasn’t, whether it was a new supplement, training program, or dietary regimen. It wasn’t until I actually tried such modifications myself that the cycle completed itself, and I was able to share my experiences with others about what works and what doesn’t.

8: Find a Friend

While this ties into the previous point about integrating myself into the gym community, there’s something to be said for having a single, committed workout partner. Aside from the obvious benefits of having a spotter, there are several reasons why having a partner early on would have kept me on the right track. First of all, a workout partner is counting on you to show up on a certain day at a certain time. When I used to skip gym days, I was really only letting myself down. I would have reconsidered if someone else was counting on me.

Secondly, a workout buddy would have been helpful in managing my form. It’s often hard to tell if you are doing an exercise with poor form unless you evaluate yourself from a 3rd person perspective. Finally, a workout partner would have been a good motivator for me, both physically and mentally. Workouts are more fun and challenging when a little friendly competition or encouragement is thrown into the mix.

9: Form First!

To me, form has always been a dirty 4-letter “F” word. My early days in the gym would have made for a great instruction manual in what NOT to do. I threw weights around like Richard Simmons on a NO Xplode overdose: lots of flailing, minus the short-shorts of course. I had no control whatsoever. I rushed through sets, and for all I knew the term “muscle isolation” was referring some sort of physical ailment. My first time working out with an experienced lifter was a revelation to both of us. We both realized that I had no idea what I was doing. After that first workout, with controlled, slowed down sets and lighter weight, my muscles felt like I had just went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson, except my ear was still intact.

10: Keep Yourself in Check

One thing I can honestly say about myself is that I am not usually an arrogant person. I have had relapses from time to time, however, when my head gets a little too big. This usually happens right before something humiliating puts me back in my place. Looking back, I really wish that I realized how behind the ball I really was with my fitness level. I was occasionally stricken with a terrible disease, ILS, or Imaginary Lat Syndrome.

I would strut around with my arms lifted like I had jalapenos in my armpits, and considering the fact that my lats were about the size of jalapenos, it must have looked pretty silly. While I can say that I do not and have not dropped weights or grunted like a constipated grizzly bear while lifting, I feel like if I don’t keep myself in check, I could someday end up just another self-absorbed iron jockey. All I really want to do is be healthier next month than I was this month. True progress speaks for itself.

Negative Long Term Effects of Bodybuilding

As far as I know, there are no long term negative effects of bodybuilding when one does it properly. Most of the problems that one develops are from use of bad form during exercises, or from improper diet. I will explain what they are and how to avoid them. Here are some examples:

Bad Knees: Many bodybuilders develop joint pains, especially at the knee. The reason for this is usually use of improper form during squats. To avoid this, make sure that your knees never stick out further than your feet, so that the barbell is directly parallel to your heels, placing the main stress on them rather than your knees. Another reason for bad knees is too much running. Many bodybuilders do lots of cardio to maintain their muscle definition, not realizing that if they ate more sensibly (no one needs 5000 calories with 600 grams of protein!) they would need to burn fewer calories. Running strains your joints at the knee and can cause inflammation. This can cause pain as you get older. To avoid it do less cardio in general, running in particular. The elliptical machine is a great substitute for the treadmill to spare your knees the wear-and-tear of running.

Muscles Turning to Fat: Before everyone jumps on this one as biologically impossible, there is some truth to it. As I mentioned above, many bodybuilders eat an insane amount of food, and complement it with an insane amount of aerobic exercise, thinking that this helps them. It doesn’t. Eating so that you will burn it off is like flushing money down the toilet, and wasting your brief, precious time on Earth on a treadmill. It is a lose-lose. It also sets you up with horribly unhealthy eating habits, so that if you ever stop exercising (even for only a few months) you will gain copious amounts of fat because you no longer do the exercise to support the diet you are accustomed to.

It is very hard for most people to change eating habits, as evidenced by how many obese people you see walking the streets. So often, later in life, a person becomes interested in family and business and has only a little bit of time to exercise, thus causing their muscles to atrophy. If they were used to eating whatever they wanted, they will get fat quickly and take the place that their muscle once occupied. This can be readily seen in retired athletes who once needed 4500 calories per day to sustain their training, and don’t adjust now that they only hit them gym 3 times per week.

Lack of Social Skills: Unfortunately, many people who take weight training seriously take only weight training seriously. They neglect family and relationships. They work and socialize only in gyms. They ignore other opportunities for personal growth and education. As they get older and cannot workout the way they once did, they find themselves feeling empty because the only people they feel comfortable with are other bodybuilders. They feel contempt for fat or weak people. This is the worst problem of all. The solution though is simple: remember that there is a world outside of the gym and beach. Take time for personal development. Spend time with family and friends. Remember that muscles are a way to enhance one’s life, not the very purpose of life itself.

Positive Long Term Effects of Bodybuilding

Luckily, the positive long term effects of bodybuilding far outweigh the negative. I will assess them now.

Stronger Muscles, Even Into Old Age: Being that I grew up in Florida, I can tell you what every elderly person’s worst nightmare is: falling. That’s right, if they fall they will almost certainly break a hip, never be able to walk again, and exist in agony and misery until they die. But why does this happen? Because when they fall their bare bones hit the ground because their muscles are completely atrophied. If they had even a little bit of remaining muscle to pad them, their odds would be much better. A solid foundation of muscle is like a suit of armor that an old person wear to protect them against what could otherwise cripple or kill them. This is all not to mention the positive effects of a stronger body in every day life for ever individual in the world.

Stronger, Sturdier Bones: Building muscle also maintains, and even increases slightly, one’s bone mass. This is especially important for women who have to worry about osteoporosis. Everyone’s bones naturally degrade starting around middle age, but a person with more muscle will also maintain more bone mass, allowing them a fuller, more active life.

Self Discipline: The most important life lesson that one can learn from bodybuilding is that you really can improve yourself if you put your mind to it. The discipline that one learns from training is priceless and irreplaceable. Someone who lifts regularly has mastered scheduling himself and regimenting himself to a special system of diet and physical activity. This will also help in the long term in every area of one’s life. A bodybuilder KNOWS he can wake up at 5am to get things he wants taken care of. He KNOWS only he is responsible for his success or failure. He can be critical and learn from his mistakes. He keeps meticulous records and monitors what works and what doesn’t. These are all crucial parts of success in school, business and society in general.

On balance, it seems that the long term effects of bodybuilding are more helpful than harmful. Especially because all of the negative impacts are avoidable! Given that, it is probably a good idea to start your program today, as the positive effects are all cumulative, meaning that the more you put into them, the more you get out.

Where I Came From

Roughly one year ago, I weighed a total of 250 lbs. As I write this article today, I weigh 175 lbs. I’ve cut off pounds of fat and even increased muscle mass over this period of time. I lead a very healthy and active life now and I have never felt this great in my life. What this transformation proved to me is simple. It showed me that there is no secret to weight loss. All that is required is the willpower to change your body and nothing more. If you have the desire and drive to achieve a goal, there is no obstacle that can stand in the way.

This is where the problems arise when most people attempt to change their body. They simply will not commit. They give in to cravings, grow tired of their diet, or just begin to slowly fall back into their old selves. In this article, I am going to share some tips to aid in avoiding these actions in hopes that it will help keep people on track. I am not going to pretend to be an expert in this field or act as if this is a fool proof plan, but I am going to share the same methods that I used, in hope of it working for someone else.

Some Tips to Reach Your Goals

1: It’s All About Calories.

Start counting calories. The nutritional facts are posted on the back of every packaged good at the grocery store. You can look up the calories in other foods such as produce and meats on the internet. Try to find your calorie maintenance (This is the amount of calories you can eat and not lose or gain weight.) and once you do this eat a few hundred less calories. Roughly 3500 calories is a pound so if you eat 400 calories less than your maintenance, after 9 days, you will lose one pound.

2: Any form of exercise is important to weight loss.

If you become more active, you’ll shed pounds at even a faster rate than by just cutting calories. Make sure you do not starve yourself though. This is where weight loss gets tricky. If you are exercising heavily you may not need to cut calories. Just do some self-experimenting until you finally find what works for you.

3: Use the Serving Suggestions.

Just about every item you find in the grocery store has a suggested serving labeled on it. For those items that do not, such as fresh produce or meats, the internet is also useful in finding the recommended amount in addition to calories those foods have.

4: Eat Filling Foods.

If you are going to be going by the serving suggestions that are labeled on products, chances are the servings will be smaller than you are accustom to. You should try to eat foods that will fill you up rather than foods that are just empty calories. Some foods that I felt were very filling and low in calories were oatmeal and cottage cheese. There are plenty of filling foods out there, just do some searching at the grocery store and you’ll be sure to find something to satisfy your needs.

5: Drink Water.

Feeling thirsty? Drink water. Need to curb your appetite? Drink water. Water is a great tool in weight loss. Cut out those sodas that are nothing but empty calories and substitute them with water instead. Can’t stand the plainness of water? Try out the packets of sugar-free flavoring (Ex. Crystal Light) that easily mix with water for a low-calorie drink that is not only better for you than soda but also satisfies your taste buds.

6: Have a “Cheat Day”.

Dieting is not the easiest task and because of this, you should reward yourself by having a “cheat day” once a week. Go out to eat with friends, have a night on the town, or just pig out by yourself on this day. Do whatever your heart desires, just remember when the next day arrives, it is back to business.

7: Take Your Time.

Three weeks until bathing suit season and you want to shed some major weight fast? Don’t even think about it. Weight loss is not an overnight event and chances are if you lose weight too fast, you’ll end up with loose skin which is just as unattractive as extra pounds. Just take your time dieting and be in no rush. As the old saying goes “slow and steady wins the race” and this holds true to weight loss.

8: Keep Record.

Start a weight loss journal that tracks your progress. Also, start taking pictures weekly or monthly. You’ll be amazed at how much motivation a weight loss journal can have on your progress.

Go Out There And Achieve!

I lived by these eight tips for the past year and can only say that I experienced great results. If you follow these tips, chances are you will have successful progress as well. As always, people are built differently so what works for one person, may not work for another. I hope, if any one does find motivation in my story and decides to use my tips to improve their body, they find the results they want.