Many people conclude that hypothyroidism leads to weight gain because the symptoms are the opposite of hyperthyroidism. However, this is not often the case. People with a hypothyroid can gain weight, but not as significantly as some make it out to be. In many cases, the sufferer will be around the same weight that they would be without the hypothyroid. Those with a hypothyroid that have a diet with proper calorie intake may not see a significant amount of weight gain. Many people have a poor diet with excessive calorie intake and blame the weight gain on thyroid problems.

Weight gain is often not a direct symptom of hypothyroidism. Since thyroid cause people to become more tired, they are often much less active and burn less calories. This alone can lead to significant weight gain.

If you notice some weight gain without any change in your diet, treating hypothyroid can help you return to your normal weight.

Weight gain can result in higher cholesterol and heart problems so it is important to reevaluate your calorie intake and diet.

So does hypothyroidism cause weight gain? Yes it can, but in many cases — other factors such as calorie intake and lack of exercise lead to the most weight gain.

 

Treatment of Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism affects millions of people annually. Fortunately, there are ways to treat hypothyroidism. Treatment is easy. Your doctor will put you on a thyroid hormone pill and you will notice start feeling better within a couple of weeks. It is likely that you will be symptom free within a few months time. However, many people have to stay on a hormone program for the rest of their life.

Many people who have their hypothyroid treated do not notice much weight loss after treatment. This is partly due to the fact that the weight gain was not caused by the thyroid to begin with.

Note: It is important that you take exactly the amount of hormone your doctors provide. Taking too much or too little can potentially cause problems.

Losing Weight With Hypothyroidism

Losing weight with a hypothyroid is much the same as any other person trying to lose weight. Since your metabolism is slow with a hypothyroid, you need to exercise regularly to keep your metabolism up. Staying active with a proper calorie intake is the single most important part of losing weight with thyroid issues.

Since hypothyroid problems can cause one to feel tired, it is important that you start out with smaller and lower intensity workouts. Then, you can gradually work your way up to more intensity.

Lift Weights

Doing cardiovascular exercises is a great way to burn calories and keep your metabolism going. However, you should also consider lifting weights to compliment your cardio workouts. After you lift weights, your muscles begin using energy to repair the muscle. This keeps energy moving and your metabolism up long after your weight lifting session. It can sometimes take 72 hours for a muscle to repair itself.

Calorie Intake and Diet For Hypothyroidism

A higher metabolism will not cause you to lose weight if you are eating too many calories. You should use this calculator and follow the guide below it to get an idea of how many calories you should be eating based on your age, height, and weight.

There are many healthy foods to eat to lose weight. I find the best foods to lose weight have these 3 qualities:

1. They are Low In Calories
2. They Taste Good
3. They Suppress Hunger Cravings

This list of my top 3 healthy foods to lose weight will not only make you lose the fat, but you will be able to enjoy eating more than ever!

Number 1: Chicken Breast

So why chicken breast? Isn’t is sort of… bland? The answer is no! In fact, there are so many delicious recipes that use chicken breast out there, that you will never get tired of eating this lean, high protein source of food. You can make anything from Asian sesame chicken to a chicken Parmesan pasta. No matter which delicious recipe you choose for the day, the key is to keep the calories low so that you will lose weight. So whether you choose to do this by portion control or by cutting out some of the extra ingredients is up to you. The bottom line is, chicken breast is probably one of the best healthy foods you can eat because it is a very lean source of protein and you can make literally thousands of different recipes with it to avoid having to eat the same thing every day.

Number 2: Salsa

This is one of my favorite snacks because salsa has many positive ingredients that make it a healthy food. For starters, salsa contains a lot of tomatoes which means that it has a high amount of Vitamin C and riboflavin. This alone makes salsa a very nutritious choice. Salsa is also flavored with herbs and spices instead of high amounts of salt or sodium. Too much salt can pose some serious health risks for those with high blood pressure so it is always good to cut it out when you can. Salsa allows you to choose exactly how much salt you want to go with it whether it be from tortilla chips or a Mexican dish. There are a countless amounts of recipes that can use salsa!

Number 3: Cottage Cheese

There are many people are turned off my the idea of eating cottage cheese. I was like this too at one point. However, there is just so many benefits to cottage cheese that I had to make it work no matter what!

First of all, cottage cheese is a very inexpensive source of protein when compared to other sources of protein at the supermarket. In addition, cottage cheese contains casein protein which is anti-catabolic by nature. This means that is takes longer to digest which is a huge plus because it keeps you full for a much longer period of time than most foods.

Cottage cheese is also low in calories which makes it the perfect food for weight loss.

So how do you make cottage cheese enjoyable to eat? There are two things you can do with cottage cheese: you can make it sweet (like a dessert) or like real food. There are many recipes out there or you can just get creative and experiment on your own. For example, I made jello and mixed it in a blender with a cup off cottage cheese and chilled it for about 30 minutes. It was delicious! You can also take the simple route and mix the cottage into a fruit bowl or just mix in a packet of Splenda and some powdered cinnamon.

The overall consensus of the top training coaches and nutritionists in the world is the best weight loss programs for men are also the best for women and vice versa. Sure, there are weight loss programs which are obviously targeted towards women. That is simply because there are more women searching for ways to lose weight. Of course companies are going to put out weight loss programs for women since they occupy a larger percentage of the target market. This means more sales for them! The truth is that when it comes to diet and exercise the same principles apply to both men and women.

As someone who likes to back up claims by looking to scientific journals for the truth, let me tell you, almost every weight loss program for women out there uses unscientific, unverified, inaccurate and potentially harmful advice. Most of these weight loss programs are designed to make you lose weight initially, but the weight is ALWAYS gained back at some point or another.  They are also far too hard to follow and make you eat things that are not enjoyable at all.  That is why I have decided to finally release this list of the best fat loss programs. They are the best because they tell the truth and use science instead of gimmicks to back up their claims!

So just what are these programs I have found and how do you get them? I will list the 3 best weight loss programs out there. Both them sort of tie into each other so for this reason, I highly recommend getting them both and they each will guarantee you the results you are looking for long term.

Warning: If you are not serious about losing fat and are looking for a ‘magic pill’ instead, then this list is not for you.

3 Best Weight Loss Programs

#1 Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat Review

I have read this one cover to cover and swear by it. It covers all of the bases. This guy knows his stuff and you will quickly understand once you start reading this program. It is definitely a great start for anyone looking to lose fat and it contains very valuable information.

First and foremost, Burn The Fat is already worth buying just for this one reason: the introduction focuses on changing your ENTIRE mindset when it comes to weight loss. This is a critical aspect of losing fat because you need to have the right mindset in order to have long term success. Tom Venuto will guide you one step at a time to set goals and motivate yourself to stay on the diet and workout program. This program focuses on a lifestyle change as opposed to short-term dieting. This is a much appreciated approach since the majority of diets are only short-term plans.

He is spot on when he talks about what you need to be eating and how much of it. Not only will you know exactly what to do in order to lose weight after reading his book, but you will be more informed about how to lose weight than 99% of the population.

However, one thing I didn’t like was his statement about meal frequency and ‘starvation mode’. In this guide, his opinions in these two areas are a bit ‘outdated’ since there has been scientific proof that increased meal frequency does not increase your metabolism (which ties in to the whole starvation mode thing). Following this diet, you can simply tweak the statements on meal frequency since science says otherwise and Tom Venuto himself has since redacted these claims.

That aside, this book has it all. It is probably one of the best books ever written about losing fat and has guided many men and women through their first major fat loss phase.

Click Here to Get Tom Venuto’s Burn The Fat

#2 Eat Stop Eat – The New Expanded Version by Brad Pilon

Are you tired of all of the diets that leave you feeling hungry all the time? This book talks about an entirely different approach to dieting that not only allows you to burn the fat, but also avoid getting those cravings that make you want to pig out!

Eat Stop Eat is based around the ‘intermittent fasting’ style of diet that is beginning to catch on very quickly in the weight loss industry. Brad Pilon really gets to the heart of the problem when it comes to people not being able to lose weight in this book.  It has a lot of good information about meal timing and hitting your macro nutrients in order to lose fat fast.

Note: Even if you are hesitant to try anything out of the ordinary when it comes to meal timing,  this book is still extremely valuable when it comes to losing fat. This is because hitting the daily nutrition recommendations in this book are FAR more important than the timing of your meals. This does not mean that meal timing is irrelevant. In fact, meal timing is extremely relevant. It just that timing of your meals has MUCH LESS of an influence on your weight loss results than hitting your macro nutrients for the day.

Another strong point in this book is his chapter on workout design for beginners. He does a good job covering resistance training for newbies and offers great research to go along with it.

I highly recommend this book because it is beginner friendly, yet very well sourced and scientifically accurate.

Click Here to Get ‘Eat Stop Eat’ The New Expanded Version

#3 Leangains by Martin Berkan
Similar to Eat Stop Eat by Brad Pilon, Martin Berkan’s Leangains is mostly about the benefits of intermittent fasting and the importance of macro nutrients when it comes to fat loss. As everyone awaits the long anticipated release of his book on intermittent fasting, I highly recommend reading his site if you are interested in extremely valuable information when it comes to dieting and exercise. You will also see how consistently he has transformed people into extraordinary condition and kept them that way.

A good place to start would be to read Top Ten Fasting Myths Debunked and then read the other articles under “Most Popular” on the top menu.

It is important to consider the best muscle groups to work out together when you are customizing a workout program. Many people make the mistake of putting the wrong muscle groups together on the same day. As a result, their performance for the following workouts throughout the week suffer.

Here are a couple of guidelines to follow when putting together your muscle groups:

Rule #1: Don’t put two big muscle groups together on the same day. This will hinder the amount of weight you can lift on a big muscle group. Instead, try to put a big muscle group with smaller muscles.

Example of what not to do:

1. Chest and Back. Chest and back should each have their own day to maximize your lifts. If you are doing chest first on a workout and a back exercise after, you will not be able to hit your back as hard as you hit chest. You want to be able to get the best possible performance out of each of these muscle groups.

2.

•  Monday – Chest
•  Tuesday- Biceps and Triceps

The above example is poorly thought out. You do not want to put triceps after you have hit your chest hard on the previous day. This is because chest exercises already involve your triceps. You will not be able to train your triceps effectively if you do them the next day.

Example of a good muscle grouping:

• Monday: Legs (Squats/Leg Curls)
• Wednesday: Chest/Shoulders (Bench Press/Shoulder Press)
• Friday: Back (Deadlifts/Chin Ups)

This is a much more effective way to maximize your potential on each and every workout. For one, you are giving each muscle group adequate time to repair and recover between workouts. Secondly, the most effective workouts for these muscle groups are compounded exercises. This means you are not only working out the main muscle group, but smaller supporting muscles as well. For example, Chin ups will workout your latissimus dorsi muscles as well as your biceps. A bench press workout will workout your chest muscles as well as your triceps. My grouping up your muscle groups this way, you can focus on doing your workouts at your highest potential, without worrying about the previous days workout hindering your performance.

Many people will tell you to put your arm workouts on separate days. However, when doing a compound exercise such as the chin up, you are already working out your bicep muscle with a heavy weight. You will not see someone doing chin ups with 2x their body weight with small arms.

If you prefer to train these smaller muscles separately on each day with isolated exercises, then you should group them as follows.

Muscle groups to work out together with adequate rest between:

• Chest with Bicep
• Legs with Abdominals/Core
• Rest
• Back with Tricep
• Shoulders
• Rest
• Rest

This configuration allows adequate rest for each muscle groups between training sessions. Notice that the tricep exercise is positioned two days after the chest workout.  The back exercise is two days after the bicep workout. This should give your body plenty of time to recover.

Kettlebell workouts have proven to be a great calorie burning exercise for weight loss. A recent study conducted by the American Council on Exercise showed that a typical kettlebell workout yields 20 calories burned every minute. The great thing about kettlebell workouts is that they can be done at home. This means 400 calories can be burned in just 20 minutes. The reason why such a large amount of calories were burned is because the kettlebell workout used in the study involved doing a full body exercise (the snatch). Full body exercises will obviously burn calories at a faster rate. This can be attributed to an increase heart rate and simply because more muscles are involved.

Beginners
If you are new to lifting kettlebell weights, you should begin by starting out with a very light weight so you can learn to do the movements correctly. Lifting a kettlebell is a lot different than lifting standard weights because there is more swinging motions involved. However, you can still do some exercises much like you would with a standard dumbbell.

Now lets go over some great calorie burning exercises:

Kettlebell Front Squat

The kettlebell squat is a very effective calorie burning exercise if done properly.It involves not only your legs and butt,  it also greatly involves your core muscles.

1. Begin by grabbing both sides of the kettlebell handle with each hand.

2. Your stance should be just wider than the width of your shoulders.

3. Point your toes outward a bit.Your knees should be parallel to the direction your toes are pointing.

4. Squat down slowly with your back straight.

5. Drive up using your legs and glutes, keep your abs tight.

For this workout, do three sets in the 10-15 rep range. If it is too easy, try a heavier weight next time.

Kettlebell Deadlift

1. With the kettlebell between your legs, reach down and grab the kettlebell with two hands by bending your knees only. It is important to keep your chest up as high at you can.

2. Lift the kettlebell by driving up your legs and hips. Your stance should be slightly wider than shoulder width. Point your toes outwards slightly.

It is important to keep your back straight during this exercise to avoid injury. Avoid rounding your back during this exercise. If you feel light you are rounding your back, try a lighter weight.

Do 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions with this exercise

Kettlebell Swing

The swing is probably the one  of the most effective cardio exercises with he kettlebell. It truly is a great kettlebell workout for weight loss. You will find out why soon after you have tried it.

It should be easier to learn the kettlebell swing now that you know how to do the deadlift properly. Many of the same principles apply.

Remember to avoid rounding your back and keep your head looking forward. Your neck should be in a neutral position to avoid any neck strain.

1. Pick up the kettlebell using both hands with the bell between your legs.

2. Keep your knees bent and the kettlebell back between your legs.

3. Next, you are going to perform a hip snap. This involves snapping your hips forward and swinging the kettlebell upwards.

4. Repeat this motion quick and smoothly.

(Note: Try performing this exercise without the kettlebell first to get the motion down)

Clean & Press

The clean & press is another high intensity kettlebell workout for weight loss.

1. With one arm reach down and pick up the kettlebell keeping your back straight.You should keep your knees bent during this movement.

2.  Drive your legs up and swing the kettle bell straight up into a resting position. Avoid swinging outwards because it will put too much strain on your rotator cuffs.

3. Press the kettlebell straight up by powering your shoulders.

4. Come straight down to the position you started at on step 3.

5. Lower the kettlebell back to the floor.

Do 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions

Before understanding what amino acids build muscle, you first need to know the role of amino acids in your body. Amino acids are what creates new tissue in your body. When you exercise your muscles, you are essentially breaking down your muscle tissue (catabolism). Following muscle breakdown is the process of repairing, and growth of the muscle (anabolism). Therefore, you need a sufficient amount to build muscle to carry out this process efficiently. In order for the muscle to grow, your body needs to consume more synthesized proteins than it is consuming through catabolism.

There are 23 amino acids that make up a protein. They can be divided up into two groups: essential amino acids, and non-essential amino acids.

There are 9 essential amino acids. These come from the foods we eat. The 12 non essential amino acids are derived from other the other amino acids in your body. All 23 amino acids need to be present in order for protein synthesis to occur.

 
It has been found that carbohydrates consumed after workouts is effective in delivering glycogen to your muscle tissue faster. Carbohydrates taken in combination with protein has been found to stimulate protein synthesis. This is why it is recommended by so many in the sports science community.After you complete a workout, blood flow is increased in the muscles which have been broken down. These creates a window of opportunity to ingest amino acids. Drinking a protein supplement or having a high protein meal in combination with carbohydrates after your workout is effective. Some people opt to take a BCAA supplement since they are under the impression that it still can take a couple of hours for that protein to break down in the form of amino acids. This is one reason why many bodybuilders consume free form amino acid supplements during and following their workout. These free form amino acids have already been broken down. Therefore, there is no time wasted with digestion and they are ready to enter the blood stream very quickly.

There is also another reason why many choose to take amino acid supplementation. When your muscles are under heavy load from working out, Branched Chained Amino Acids (BCAAs) are taken from your muscles  for energy (muscle is being broke down). People choose BCAA supplements in order to prevent break down of the muscle. Extra BCAAs will be used for energy instead of BCAAs from your muscles if available (see study: http://jap.physiology.org/content/74/6/2711.abstract)

But Are These BCAA Supplements Really Necessary?

For those who are not getting adequate high quality protein, sure. However, let’s not forget that protein sources from animals, whey protein, and others already have BCAAs. As long as you are getting adequate protein from these sources, BCAA supplements are unnecessary because the BCAAs already exist in your bloodstream.  There has yet to be a study showing the benefits of BCAA supplements over BCAAs derived from other food sources.  So if you want to avoid spending money on BCAA supplements, increase your protein intake and you will be fine.

In order to know how to get rid of belly fat for women you have to first understand the truth about losing weight in specific areas of the body.

First of all, there is no such thing as spot reduction. In other words, doing thousands of ab crunches is not going to make you lose more fat in your belly just like doing a  back exercise won’t help you get rid of back fat more easily. If your goal is to lose your belly fat, then you need to lower your overall body fat percentage. As a result of lowering your body fat percentage, you will start to lose the fat on your belly as well as the fat in all other areas of your body.

But I still want to know how to get rid of belly fat! What can I do?
They key for how to get rid of belly fat for women is to lower your body fat percentage is to burn more calories than you are consuming. It is no secret that diet and exercise is the best way to do this! However, there are definitely diets that are better than others as well as exercise programs that are better than others.

What to look for in a diet?
A good diet is one that will not leave you starving or hungry for more, but instead will satisfy your hunger while keeping the calories low. The diets you should stay away from are the ones that leave you hungry and wanting to pig out! Even if you think you are disciplined enough to follow such as diet, AND you have lost all of the extra weight you have been wanting to lose, you will most likely eventually cave and enter a period of re-feeding. This will result in all of the weight gained back! All of your hard work and progress will be gone and you will be back to square one. This is the most common problem people have with dieting. The key is to find a diet where you enjoy the food and look forward to the meals. This way you can follow it for the long term and reach your fat loss goals without ever looking back.

So here is the basic criteria we have for a good diet:

• I enjoy the food
• I don’t feel the need to make constant trips to the pantry to see what I can pig out on
• The calories are low enough that I am losing the extra fat
• Once I’ve reached my fat loss goals on this diet, I can continue good eating habits which don’t lead to excessive calorie intake.

What are the best exercises for women?

Believe it or not, the best exercises for men are also the best exercises for women.The overall consensus from the top fitness coaches in the world is that the fundamentals of training are the same for men and women.  Yes I know, I’ve heard it all. “Weights are too scary!” “Only men are supposed to lift weights!” “I don’t want to look like a man!” “I don’t want huge bulky muscles like those female bodybuilders!” And who can blame you? The way the fitness industry has directed women to the Jazzercise room while only the men are supposed to hit the weights was almost completely unavoidable. Only recently have “health gurus” and experts insist that hitting the iron is the way to go. And fortunately, women are gradually starting to learn to hit the squat rack and the rest of the weight room instead of the elliptical for a good workout.

The truth is that women can never get “too bulky” naturally. This is because they lack the testosterone to gain any significant amount of muscle mass. Even men who want to gain muscle must eat the same amount of calories it takes to feed a family of five!

Following good weight training program will give your body the healthy, toned, sexy look as opposed to skinny/fat flab. Additionally, weight training will help you burn more calories when you are just relaxing for the day! This is because muscle requires more calories to sustain. For every 3 lbs of muscle mass, the body burns 120 calories to keep the muscle. Over the span of a year, you will have kept off 10lbs of fat.  With this significant advantage in mind, you can say bye bye to that belly fat for good!

There seems to be a massive amount of confusion when it comes to this question — How often should I eat to lose weight?

The scientific and truthful answer? It doesn’t matter.

What fitness magazines and supplement companies will tell you? Five or six small meals per day.

The saying “A lie repeated often enough eventually becomes the truth” seems to be appropriate here. Fitness magazines and nutrition companies are in the business for one thing.. to make money! And what better way to do that than to get people to believe they need to be eating 5, 6, or even 7 small meals each day in order to boost metabolism and lose weight! Preparing 5 or 6 meals a day can be a daunting and time consuming task. The solution for most is to buy protein shakes for a quick meal. The result is a remarkable increase in supplement sales. Many supplement companies love telling people they need to eat more frequently throughout the day, and now you see why.

So how often should you eat to lose weight? You will be delighted to hear that meal frequency does not matter when it comes to weight loss. Therefore, you can eat your meals at whatever time is convenient for you. As for the losing weight part, you still need to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight. This means watching what you eat and carefully dialing in your calorie consumption.

Great News! No more stressing out about meal timing!

This can be a huge relief for those who are constantly stressed out about meal timing and preparation. Timing your meals so you need to eat every 2-3 hours adds quite a hefty load of inconvenience for most people. Who has the time to prepare this many meals each day? Now you can conveniently schedule your eating to fit your lifestyle.

The Science Behind Meal Frequency

When it comes to meal frequency, the Thermal Effect of Food (TEF) applies. TEF is the temporary boost in metabolism after food is consumed. It is 100% proportional to the amount of calories you eat at a given time. For example, if one person eats six meals totaling 2000 calories, and another eats 3 meals totaling 2000 calories, the amount of energy each of these people expend by eating is the same. The person eating six meals will just have smaller energy expenditure after each meal than the one eating three bigger meals.

There have been many studies that have shown there is no difference between the person eating 3 meals or the person eating 6 meals. The most recent study can be found here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985

There has not been a single scientific study that shows more frequent meals leads to more weight loss.

I have heard people ask many times, “How do I get rid of my back fat and love handles? Is it even possible?” The answer? Yes! It is very possible to get rid of back fat. But let’s cut the BS. You cannot lose back fat alone as you may have heard from a so called ‘fitness guru’. It is simply not possible to lose fat in a specific area of your body. In order to lose back fat, you will need to lose body fat throughout your entire body. Which is actually great news I’d say! You will reap the benefits of losing body fat not only in your troublesome area, but in all areas of your body as well.

So what’s the best way to lose fat on your back and love handles?

Lets start with the basics.  Losing fat on your body comes by doing one thing and one thing only — burning more calories than you are consuming. There are many diet claims out there that seem to over look this fact. But it’s true and is backed by a fair amount of science. However, the macronutrients of the foods you are eating do have an impact on your body composition, physical performance, cholesterol, and many other factors. So some calories are better than others when it comes to physiological factors.

When it comes to LOSING weight (for example), a calorie is in fact a calorie. Say you have two groups of two people who both keep a calorie intake of 2200 cals per day (both are on a 400 calorie deficit). Group 1 gets their calories from ice cream, pizza, french fries, donuts, etc. Group 2 gets their calories from chicken breast, egg whites, oatmeal, rice, etc. Both groups WILL lose weight. However, Because group 2 has higher protein and healthier macronutrient profile, they will have a better body composition since they will maintain muscle mass as opposed to losing muscle mass as well as have other vital nutrients that support the body’s needs.

Here is the best approach:

• Hit your protein and fat requirements.
• Follow a diet which has highly nutritious foods that are enjoyable for you to eat.
• Have your cheat snacks and meals if needed.
• Exercise on consistent basis (whatever that is for you to reach your goals).
• Overall healthy lifestyle choices.

So if you already have healthy eating habits and a high protein diet, you can eat junk food sparingly and still see results. However, it is VERY important to maintain a calorie deficit if you are trying to lose fat.

So you might be now be asking yourself this question: How do I find out the amount of calories I need to lose fat? First, you need to calculate what is called your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) (see bmr calculator). Your BMR is the amount of calories your body burns with no activity at all. So this number would be a fairly accurate measurement of the amount of calories burned if you were to sleep all day. Once you find out your BMR, you can plug it into the Harris Benedict Formula. This formula will factor in your activity level. It looks like this: BMR x Activity Level. So if your BMR is 1900 and your activity level is 1.2, you will need to eat 2,280 calories in order to maintain your current weight. So if you wanted to lose weight, you would need to eat something like 2000-2100 calories per day. Now, this will give you a pretty good indication of how many calories you can eat to lose weight. It is up to you to tweak the amount based on the progress you are getting. Not seeing any weight lose after a couple of weeks? Try cutting your calories by another 100 or so and monitor the results.

A Few Excellent Exercises to Get Rid of Love Handles

Cardio exercise is a great way to burn some extra calories (and take away some inches on your love handles as well). However, you should consider adding some back exercises with weights into your workout program. So pick a day out of the week to focus on working your back muscles. This will not only lead to more weight loss (weight lifting actually burns more calories as your muscle repairs), it will also help tone your back muscles and make the fat a little less apparent. So this would benefit you in two ways – 1. losing back fat and 2. Toning back muscles

Here are a couple of very effective back exercises:

1. Lat Pull Downs/ Pull Ups

Lat Pull Downs

This back exercise will target your Latissimus dorsi muscle. Now, many people struggle to do a pull up unassisted. No problem! You can do lat pull downs in your gym or get some resistance bands if you would like to try doing it at home. Start with a weight that you can complete at least 8 full and controlled repetitions on, then gradually increase the weight at a steady pace.

2. Seated Rows

Seated Rows

Seated rows target your back as the primary muscle. It also involves your biceps and traps. The motion is much like the one used when rowing a canoe or a kayak. It just might be a bit heavier! Just remember to squeeze your back muscles as you pull the weight back. Avoid jerking the weight and incorporate a nice fluid motion.

3. Deadlift

An excellent way to get rid of back fat (lots of calories burned), the deadlift is probably one of the most famous weight lifting exercises. It is very important to have the correct form to prevent injury. This exercise will involve just about every muscle in your body. So be prepared to have some sore muscles in the days following!

Here is how to perform a deadlift properly: (You can practice with a broom and maybe have someone look over your form)

4. Squats

You may be thinking, “Isn’t this a leg exercise? I want to get rid of back fat, not leg fat!” Trust me on this, this exercise greatly involves your back since your back is supporting a good amount of weight throughout the movement. Doing compound movement like the squat is a great way to burn calories since you are involving many muscles throughout your entire body (more muscles repairing=more calories burned).

Here’s a great video showing proper form for a low bar squat:

These exercises will give you a solid foundation to build a great program for yourself that will allow you to achieve your goal on losing back fat.

Please note: With the exception of squats and dead lifts, these exercises are primarily for the back only. You should incorporate other exercises into your program to target other parts of your body.

Learning how to get rid of back fat fast is just step one. The next step is to take action and accomplish your goals!

How much should I weigh? This is one question that almost everyone asks at one point in time. Even though there is no exact answer to the question, there are estimates that can be used as guidelines to know the healthy weight for your height and age.

It is important that you use any chart which shows a recommended weight loosely as there are many factors involved for determining the best weight for a person. Everyone is different and factors such as age, bone density, water weight, muscle mass, and frame size all play a role in a persons weight. This is also the reason why those BMI calculators should be used with caution as well. They don’t account for muscle mass which weighs more than fat and as a result, you get a faulty number.

Below is a chart that gives an estimate on how much you should weigh for both men and women. This chart is not for anyone under the age of 20 as their bodies are still growing.

The Benefits of Achieving a Healthy Weight

So What Are the Benefits of Getting to a Healthy Weight?

Whether you are underweight or overweight, there are numerous benefits for getting yourself to a healthy weight range.

• The most obvious reason is to be healthy. Being healthy means avoiding lifestyle illnesses and health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, migraines, back and muscle problems, mobility problems, and many more.
• You will have more energy to do the things you love such as being with family and friends without feeling the need to sleep all day in front of the TV (Not to mention avoiding a lot of the useless garbage coming from the television). You will also have the energy to take up activities you have never done before and maybe even find a new favorite hobby. This can also give you a healthier immune system.
• Reaching a healthy weight means you will not be underweight and you will not be overweight. Instead, you will be toned and looking better and younger than ever. A body with good proportions will make you more attractive on the inside and the outside. This can also give you a steady boost in confidence!
• Since your mind and body will function better as a result of being at a healthy weight, you will be more efficient at everything you do. This means you will be more successful and achieve more.

So when you ask yourself, “how much should I weigh?” — consider your body type to make a more accurate judgement.