Some interesting articles :

http://www.self.com/fitness/2012/05/benefits-of-exercise

http://www.self.com/healthystars/2011/06/stars-favorite-workout-moves-slideshow#slide=1



As a side note, I have noticed something interesting:
The more I workout the less I want to eat unhealthy foods :-) 

Sodium content

Apparently everything we eat has too much sodium -

 http://www.livestrong.com/article/268212-high-sodium-foods-list/

Quick thoughts

The challenge of weight loss is daunting, is it not? It is to me, because I have failed so many times! I started running recently, thanks to an inspiring friend who let her enthusiasm flow into me. I realized quickly that running was more of a mind game than anything else. Anything you do, you have to make into a game that will keep your mind busy so that it is not focused on the sweet pain of working out. Inspirational or not, this post is hopeful of making work outs and work-out goals a practical mathematical equation. With running, or any exercise, try to come up with number goals. It helped to count how many laps I could run around the track in the gym, or how many minutes I was able to add weekly. Alternating running and walking is a great way to start off if you are worried about stamina. Here's a good website that was recommended to me by several runners and I think it's a great way to start. It's called the "couch-to-5k plan":

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

There's also an app for this for ipod/iphone/androids which is helpful.

Thanks to Alka's incessant Zumba rants I finally went to one of those classes with Jen and boy, was it FUN! I was singing on the way back home and might have skipped a couple of times on the way haha. Try it if you haven't already.

Here's a cool link titled "Beginner Abs":

http://caloriecount.about.com/article/partner/beginner_abs

The first three weeks are the toughest because that is how long it takes to incorporate a new activity into one's routine and make it a habit. If we resort to making our work outs as fun as possible we will want to do them as often as possible, slowly look forward to them, and before we know it will be three weeks later and we won't be able to imagine a routine without daily exercise and healthy eating!

For egg lovers and meat eaters

http://blog.massivehealth.com/infographics/tale_of_two_meals/

Alka's two cents

I've gone on and on about weight loss and toning for a long time now. Growing up, I was skinny, and I think that I am naturally skinny, except lifestyle changes have made me pack the pounds on. To give you some history, I never really worked out until the age of 22 (when I moved to the US in 2008), and I was at my fattest in 2010 (about 133 pounds). Sometimes my constant rants might annoy you, but people with slow metabolism (like me) find it extremely difficult to lose and gain weight. Anyway, I want all of us to look good, feel better and most importantly, get healthy.

Here is a list of things that have worked for me -

1) Aerobics/Cardio - Getting your heart rate up - No matter how much you restrict your diet, you will not burn fat overall unless you work out and get your heart pumping blood. So make sure there's enough cardio activities in your exercise plan. I have enjoyed zumba, running, walking, lunges, jumping jacks, other aerobic exercises, and I am starting to play volleyball this summer. Also, swimming is great!

2) Focused training does not work - If you need to lose belly fat, doing ab exercises and crunches and planks will not do much for you. To burn the fat, you need to do cardio. To tone the muscle, you need to lift weights and do resistance training. Only a combination of the two works best.

3) Protein intake - for vegetarians, proteins are a pain in the ass. Eat a lot of lentils, that's the only way to get protein. Of course, for egg lovers, there's always that.
I've been trying to replace carbs with lentils, and I will post later on about how that's worked out for me.

4) Journals/watching what you eat - Here's what I am trying to do this time -

• eat at least one fruit a day
• eat only proteins for dinner (as much as i can help it, with healthy carbs from veggies)
• cut down refined carbs, sugar as much as possible
• replace sugar with honey whenever possible (tea tastes delicious with honey)
• dont eat out as much - cut down to 3 times a week, will lower it soon
• put away 5 bucks every week that i work out 6 times

5) Most importantly, exercise helped me get over a break up, and the endorphin makes me cheerful. It is wonderful! And with one another to inspire, I am sure we will do great.

let's start posting pictures so that we can all see everybody's progress.

Good luck!

Diet Tracker

I loved this new web site that would help you keep track of all our activities to get the extreme makeover!! Have a look at it. I found this on the google web store. You can install this web app on your google chrome.

Take a look at it! Hope you guys like it :D

http://www.medhelp.org/chrome/diet_diary

Flat Belly Wanted!!!!

Thank you Niv for getting this blog created. Ladies, let us all use this blog to report on progress, share funny stories, inspire one another and get rid of that ugly gross disgusting fat that clogs our arteries and makes us grow out of our pretty clothes.

OK. 

LADIES! ARE YOU READY TO WORK YOUR BUTTS OFF???

Sorry, I tried to do the Jillian michaels inspiration speech, but it is saturday morning and I am still waking up. Anyhoo, the rules for this challenge are simple -

1) You MUST work out at least 5 times a week. If you cannot work out a certain day, work out twice on a different day.

2) In the first table, put down the number of times you worked out any particular week (I shared a google doc with you) .

3) In the table below your names, enter your goals. It can be anything - number of pounds you wanna lose by June 4th, number of inches you wanna lose, if you want to give up on a certain type of food etc. The goal of this challenge is to ensure we all meet our goals :)

4) On this website (thanks to Niv), create an account so that you can track your food intake and exercise. I just need this excel sheet filled out to know that everyone's in fact keeping up with the challenge. If you're not interested, you can quit at any time. But remember, quitting wont get us a flat belly :)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

5) Here is a list of refined carbs you MUST avoid as much as possible, or else there is no way you can lose the belly fat. At best, what will end up happening is you'll build muscle over the fat and so the belly will stay forever :( ugh. Anyway, ladies, NO REFINED CARBS - 

http://www.lasting-weight-loss.com/processed-carbohydrates.html

6) I think this list of instructions has a lot of merit. Its worked out for me so far - http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/25-ways-flatten-belly-summer-182700093.html

7) Some exercises - http://2012lastfatyear.blogspot.ca/2012/01/300-challenge-ab-core-workout.html

8) Remember to strengthen your core, and try not to get injured. Do not starve! 

Some of you know that last year I lost about  14 pounds (and gained some back, sigh). What worked best for me was replacing starch/carbs with protein. I ate a lot of lentils (since most of us are vegetarian, this will work for you too). I didn't cook with a lot of oil, and I tried to eat salads as much as possible. Fruits and veggies too, of course.

Some tips I've learned over time - The only way to lose overall body weight is aerobics/cardio - GETTING YOUR HEART RATE UP.. lifting weights will help you tone but wont help you lose weight.. green tea really helps, drink a ton of water before you consume anything. So even if you're drinking coffee/tea, first drink a whole liter of water. 

Celery is a negative calorie food, so your body burns a lot more calories trying to digest celery (or something like that).. Always stay in sculpt-mode, so tuck your tummy in when you're sitting at a desk/table... eat well and try not to eat very close to bed time.. 

LETS GET ER DONE! 

Alka