Have you ever felt yourself crash? Not the automobile type of crash, but the type of crash where you suddenly find yourself weak, tired, dizzy, or otherwise sluggish? This is because your blood sugar has dropped too low and your brain suddenly has too little. The way a human body would work best is if it had an IV drip of blood sugar throughout the day, because then it could respond very moderately to the intake of sugar. Unfortunately, that’s not realistic or practical, so the next best thing is to consider the glycemic index.

If you go for foods with a high glycemic index, you are choosing foods that will break down into sugar very quickly, which your body will clear out quickly with insulin. At a very basic level, this is how it works: When you eat something that has a lot of sugar in it, your body breaks it down easily, because it’s already practically sugar. Once all this sugar enters your bloodstream, your body reacts by getting insulin to clear it all out. As you know, too much sugar in your bloodstream is life-threatening. It’s called type 2 diabetes, where the pancreas can’t produce enough insulin anymore.

The glycemic index focuses on carbohydrates and their effect on your blood glucose levels. For your body, it’s ideal to have something resembling an IV drip of blood sugar––something that is broken down slowly and provides a slow stream of sugar, rather than an instantaneous surge of sugar that the body needs to clear out to keep you from dying. The glycemic index specifically looks at a 50-gram portion of various foods and evaluates how it raises your blood sugar levels, in terms of quantity and speed.

All food will create some sort of glycemic response, but not all carbohydrates are created equal. On an index of 1 to 100, 100 is considered to be pure glucose. Foods that are considered high on the glycemic index are 70 or higher; moderate foods are between 56 and 69; low foods are 55 and below. Pretzels are rated 81 on the glycemic index, which means they will cause a quicker glycemic response in your body than something like broccoli, which has a rating of 15.

What this means for you is that, if you want to eat healthier and feel your best, you need to look for foods with a low glycemic index. This means that you’ll have a steady stream of blood sugar, and you’ll also feel full in between meals. Again, consider what happens when you eat something like the pretzel. After you’ve eaten it, you might find yourself hungry in only a half hour or an hour. Then, you’ll crave another high glycemic food because your body cleared out too much blood sugar, and you’ll want to make up for it with something that can give you a quick response. This is a recipe for weight gain, not weight loss.

When figuring out how best to eat, find low glycemic foods that will keep you feeling full and give your body nutrients. As long as you know how to use it, the glycemic index is your best friend when it comes to health and weight loss.

Tired of Looking at the Inside of Gym Walls? I know I am.

Let’s face it, gyms aren’t pretty and they aren’t really designed to be. They are filled with rows and rows of exercise equipment and any wall space that doesn’t feature a full length mirror is usually covered by a poster of a muscled up bodybuilder or an advertisement for one of the personal trainers that reside there. The floor, while functional with its thick padded surface, doesn’t exactly provide the same ambience as a finely woven Berber carpet.

Well, at least you have the music to help you feel more comfortable. That is if you like whatever type of music happens to be blaring out of the speakers at the time. There is always the TV though. If you are lucky enough to get a machine that has a TV you can control, you’ll have the ability to watch whatever you want as long as you place the bacteria infested earphones into your ears. Perhaps I sound a bit disgruntled and I apologize as that is not my point. The fact is, sometimes I just have to take my work out outside as the confining walls of the gym can drive just about anybody crazy after a while.

So, what is so great about working out outside? What is so great is that the possibilities are endless. The only thing that determines what you’ll see and what you’ll experience when working out outside is the areas in which you’re willing to go to perform your workout.

If you’re looking for a more calm and serene atmosphere, simply take a jog around the past they can be found at your local lake. Benches found along the pathway will provide you additional structures for you to use if you want to perform incline push-ups or plyometrics.

If you’re looking for a more varied and intense surrounding, simply make your way into the city to complete your fitness regimen. Running up and down stairs amidst the hustle and bustle of a downtown environment will not only provide you with a great cardiovascular workout but it will ensure that the scenery you encounter is ever-changing. Cityscapes, with their varied concrete jungle type structures provide a plethora of workout opportunities to anyone who has a good imagination and a sense of adventure.

Whether or not you have kids, going to the local playground can be one of the most satisfying work out alternatives to the local gym scene. Fair you can perform an incredible variety of exercises using the jungle gym just as the kids do including pull-ups on the monkey bars, plyometric jumps on the landing platforms, and even dips between the bars of the equipment itself.

So if you are tired of looking at the inside walls of your gym, simply step outside and take a look around. Workout opportunities are everywhere and stepping out into the fresh air can reinvigorate your excitement for working out and training our regular basis.

How you can avoid the prying eyes of the “Gym Fly’s.” A Women’s Guide to enjoying time at the Gym.

We have all seen them. I call them Gym fly’s. The guys that hang around the gym and do more talking than working out. They have the latest workout clothes, and are sipping on their carbohydrate and protein loaded fitness drink while they work their jaws. They LOOK the part, but in reality, they are simply LOOKING. Their target? Women.

From my experience, most women are at the gym to do one thing: workout. They are not interested in meeting guys and they are not impressed by how much weight you can throw overhead or how cool your arms look in your wife beater. The problem is, gym fly’s don’t get this. They often hover around these ladies ready to offer their “advice” to the “helpless woman.” Well ladies, listen up. Here are a few tips to help you keep these BUGS away from you and help you concentrate on getting a serious workout!

1. Knowledge is power…use it! – Many guys love to go up to women to give them advice on their lifting technique or workout in general. First of all, if ANYONE is going to put themselves out there in this way, you MUST be tactful…most of these guys AREN’T. Secondly, the fact is, a lot of their advice is often flat out WRONG. Women, if you do your homework and brush up on both your workout knowledge and technique, you will put THEM in their place. Trust me, they will leave you alone.

2. When in doubt, bring a friend – Working out with a partner will not only help keep your workouts focused and safe, it will also help keep the unwanted gym fly’s at bay. People who are together are less likely to be bothered when working out

3. Crank up the music – I like to listen to music when I workout personally. Rather than dealing with whatever is pumped through the speakers at the gym, I like to pop in the ear buds of my iPod. If you are there to concentrate on getting in shape, not socializing, then listening to music or audio books via earphones will surely let others know you mean business. Anyone who decides to interrupt you had better have a good reason as the simple fact that you will have to stop and pull out your earphones will deter many from even bothering.

4. Don’t go to the gym – Wait a second, don’t go to the gym? Yes, I said it. See, the mere fact that there are so many distractions at gyms makes working out at a gym not an option for a growing contingent of fitness buffs. This is not to say DON’T WORKOUT, but instead, workout outside of gyms at a boot camp style class. Obviously, you won’t have to deal with the aforementioned gymflys, nor any of the other interruptions and distractions that keep you from what you really want to do…get in shape! Outdoor workouts are a great alternative and if you take some time to learn a little about all the ways you can get in shape just using your own bodyweight, you may decide to stay away from the gym altogether.

Weight Loss or Time Wasting?

Getting thin is the desire of eight among ten women. Maybe it’s second only to having a credit card with unlimited credit…

But jokes aside, obesity has become an epidemic disease in modern times, due to our lifestyle and lack of time.

Some years ago, we had a life that allowed walking, resting and playing sports, and enough safety to jog in a park.

Today we have more workload, student responsibilities and family affairs, all competing for our time. This produces an entire generation that doesn’t have time to exercise or eat properly and “suddenly” notice we became FAT.

Read the rest of this entry

Hello and welcome to the Mr. Fat Loss blog!

This has been something I’ve wanted to do for awhile and with everybody  coming into the marketplace with a variety of fat loss products that promise the stars and the moon, plus make you look fabulous…I thought a personal guide to assist you would be a good idea!

The main reason is that I want to help you with sorting out some of the fluff and provide some direction for you while  you look for the right fat loss program that’ll help you.

After 32 years of personal experience with exercise, fitness and health…I still look for the “new” the better, the faster or best fat loss program.

Its very hard and determining the “best or right” program can be challenge when all the information is sounding pretty much the same, just a different person or company promoting the next “magic bullet.”

I’d like to provide you with as many resources available so you can look for yourself and measure the claims made by each of the experts on the marketplace. Along with the ones I feel are important to include when putting together and building effective fat loss programs.

I’ll also be very blunt in many cases, not to offend , but to shake some of you up that have been saying you are “trying, thinking about or should” do something or that “it’s too hard to change” a bit more than “doing” what you should be doing to accomplish healthy fat loss as your goal.

In my mind, over all improved mental and physical health should be the goal of everyone on the planet…actually, to be the best human being you can. But, without making this a political forum or blog, instead comments focused on important fitness and health related topics will be welcome and appreciated with fat loss more as a side benefit of healthy lifestyle changes.

I also will have people from around the globe looking at the information here with the translator bar in all dialects available…so welcome visitors! Along with that there are a few sections you may want to explore which contain elements you might not currently have employed in your own fat loss programs.

These individuals in my professional opinion are some of the best in the world and will offer you a lot of information so that you can judge their abilities for yourself before going any further.

In addition, there will be variety of teleseminars, videos, articles and Q & A opportunity with so much new information related to any and all areas regarding fat loss strategies…with fantastic, thought provoking content.

Although it seems that each year new ideas come out about the best or fastest method for fat loss…human beings have not changed physically in a long time and unlike technology, do not adapt or evolve as quick.

Same stuff that got people lean a hundred years ago, still works today…hard, purposeful work.

That being said, you will not find a short cut method here, nor will I endorse it, but just common sense approaches to an age old desire…lean muscle.

Thank you for stopping by,

Mr. Fat Loss