Ken_B Profile and Articles

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1). All About Protein
Proteins are very important to our bodies. It isn't just for bodybuilders who use them to gain muscle mass. Those who are sick use them to rebuild damaged tissue and even in normal states, our body uses protein for many different tasks.

Proteins are made of amino acids that are folded together. There are essential amino acids - those that our body cannot make, and non essential amino acids - those that our body can make.

2). Benefits of Strength Training
The benefits of a good strength training program are almost endless. Less disease, happiness and most importantly, showing off your muscles at the beach.

Strength training should be part of everyone's routine. Even if you are low on time, strength training, according to the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine), only needs to be done 2-3 times per week with each session lasting no more than one hour.

3). Three Parts to a Successful Workout
There is more to exercise than jumping on a treadmill, lifting weights or playing basketball. To avoid injury and maximize gains, a warm up, stimulus (or conditioning) and cool down must be included in your routine.

Warm ups are needed to move your body from a resting to an exercise state. A good warm up gets you ready for exercise by increasing: blood flow to your muscles, body temperature and metabolic rate.

4). Guidelines for Resistance Training
Many people are afraid to start training with weights. Some think they'll injure themselves and others don't know where to start. Luckily, the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) has some guidelines that will help make your workout easier to do and more effective.

First, you need to choose a mode of exercise. A lot of options exist for resistance training.

5). Basics of Losing Weight
Failed diets and out of control obesity may lead you to believe that losing weight is difficult but it is quite easy, at least on paper. The only thing you need to do is keep the calories that you burn greater than the calories that you eat. So why is this article so long?

Your first step is to figure out how many calories you are burning each day.

6). Carbohydrates: Good vs. Bad
Carbohydrates are our main source of fuel, especially for our brains. Completely eliminating them from your diet isn't a very good idea. Simple carbs such as soda, candy and other snacks that provide our body with no vitamins and minerals, just pure energy are known as empty calories. Too many of these can lead to obesity and diabetes.

On the other hand, complex carbs provide us with an abundance of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

7). A Walk to Your Health
You can reap some benefits of exercise without joining a gym or running for miles a day. Not to say that doing so is a bad idea but altering your lifestyle to include more activity with your daily tasks offers you convenience and can help you reach the recommended amount of physical activity each day.

A few years ago, the Surgeon General released a report about the obesity epidemic facing this country.

8). How to Succeed With Your Diet
Typically, when thinking of the word diet, we think temporary. Spring breaks, weddings and even weekend beach trips will get us to lose some weight. Unfortunately, these short term diets don't work. They are unhealthy and once you stop them, your weight will come back. Studies show you'll be heavier than when you started. Instead of diet, think lifestyle change.

9). All About Fats
With the low carbohydrate craze, many people have turned their attention to fats. They eat more of it and think its fine. Depending on what kind of fat you are consuming and how much of it you take in, fats can be beneficial or detrimental to your health.

There are three main types of fat. They are saturated, unsaturated and trans fats. Saturated fats come mainly from animal sources such as meat and dairy.

10). All About Carbohydrates
Normally carbohydrates are found in all foods except meat products. Recently, some diets have recommended stripping out all carbohydrates from what you eat. Many companies have bought into this and among other things, have introduced low-carb breads. Limiting bad carbohydrates such as sugar from your diet is a positive step but going further and refusing to eat fruits and whole grains can potentially deprive you of cancer fighting foods.

11). Misleading Food Labels
Learning the benefits of eating health foods may convince you to start eating them. But what if the foods you start eating aren't any healthier than the ones you gave up? Misleading statements on food labels can lead to that.

Incorporating whole foods into your diet will give you energy throughout the day, prevent cancer and lower your cholesterol.

12). Calories: The Good and Bad
Making a commitment to have healthier eating habits is a tough one. Knowing how to implement that commitment may be even harder. Where do you start? What foods should you eat, and which ones should you stay away from? These are all questions you should answer before going out to the grocery store.

We need nutrients to survive. We need vitamins, minerals and calories everyday.

13). Make Your Own Menu
Cooking shouldn't have to be a chore. To many, cooking is a job, career and even a way of life. To some it is an art and to you it should be fun.

Making a habit of eating out raises many issues. What ingredients do they use? Are the ingredients fresh? Do they use hydrogenated fats? How big are their portions? While eating out may seem easy today, tomorrow you may wake up feeling differently (literally and metaphorically).