Having Fun with Zumba!

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You know, after trying to lose weight for eons already, I have already realized that the best fat burners is simply good old healthy diet and exercise. Life could really hold one back though. Sometimes things get too busy and I always find the excuse I am too busy to exercise. Which led me to a solution that I should make exercise fun and something to look forward to.

And so I bought a Nintendo Wii which had been great and enjoyable but now I’m looking for something more intensive. I tried out Hip Hop Abs and its wonderful. I guess I found dancing to be a really good workout. Now I’m trying out Zumba for a little bit more flavor. And I’m absolutely crazy about it. Not only do I get a good body workout, I’m also learning how to dance, which means I won’t be bumbling like a baboon the next time I attend a dance party.

I love the energetic, sexy beat of Latin music and this is the core of Zumba.  Right now I’m doing the basics and the 20 minute workout on DVD and I think I’m moving on to something more intensive in a month. Also, I’m really tempted to order the Wii game version of this. Lol!

Here’s a video of the basic steps. It’s so upbeat and broken down into easy steps to follow so even if you have two left feet, I’m sure you’d be grooving in no time..

Discovering Healthy Living..

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It’s a known thing. I’m trying to lose weight for the nth time. I’ve done all sorts of things to achieve this goal. And it skipped my mind, in my frantic attempts to lose weight quickly, that the real secret to my quest to a healthier weight it is to live healthy.

Though I didn’t really go to extreme lengths like take slimming pills, so I was spared the side effects of extenze, still I went on mad diets, crazy exercise schemes etc. Sure I lost a bit of weight every time I go into these things but I usually gain it back in no time.

It’s only just recently that it seriously hit me what living healthy means. It’s definition may differ for each person but we’d pretty much agree on the fact the healthy living includes eating a healthy well balanced diet and having some form of exercise on a daily basis.

I also realized that trying to live healthy is a slow process. One that cannot be hurried up overnight. Perhaps it might work for some people to change overnight, but definitely not for me. So, I’m taking gradual but definite steps towards a healthier lifestyle.

I’ve been changing my goals from just losing weight to living healthy. Unconsciously, going for this new goal has the positive side effect – I’m starting to lose weight! I’ll be talking about this more soon..But for now, it’s what I wanna share. Having healthy eating and lifestyle habits does have its just rewards.

Tricks To Speeding Up Metabolism

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I’m one of those genetically unlucky women who has a really really slow metabolic rate. How I envy those who could eat truckloads but not even gain an ounce. But I realize I have to do something about this. When I was a teenager, though I have slow metabolism, I always have a healthy weight. Even in my 20′s I had that ‘just right’ body weight.

Everything went downhill after I gave birth to my child. And my weight gain was not helped when I quit working and starting working from home. I had my jewelry business and working was done mostly sitting down. Talk about a drastic change in my physical activities. When the business was doing good I had tons to do and exercise was put on the back burner. Before I realized it, I gained lots already. Oh, I’ve tried a smorgasbord of diets, weight loss drinks, at one time I did even try diet pills but none of them worked. Sure, I lost some weight but I did easily gained it all back after a month or two.

Now I’m in a serious dilemma coz I’m working online on my blogs so I sit down a lot of times. Losing weight is now becoming an almost obsession to me. For two weeks now I’ve been doing lots of research and I’m starting to realize where I’ve gone wrong.. I realized I’ve got to improve the rate of my metabolism, knowing that I am sedentary most of the day just prompts me now to do something to remedy the situation.

One article I read on Yahoo! Health discusses 7 tricks to a speedier metabolism. Click on the link to read the full article. But in summary, the article lists down the following ways to increase our metabolic rate and therefore increasing the rate we burn calories..

• Get more than 5 hours of sleep. – I am so guilty of this! I always sleep late and wake up early so the whole day I mostly feel lethargic.
• De-stress – true. Whenever I am stressed I tend to binge.
• Do not skip breakfast – At least this one I am religiously following.
• Get out of the chair - “Staying on your feet revs metabolism and doubles your calorie burn during workdays”..
• Avoid junk foods – “Junk food might stimulate a gene that encourages your body to store excess fat, causing you to gain weight over time.”
• Avoid falling into workout rut – when weight loss plateau arrives, I often lose interest. Experts advice continously eating a healthy diet and trying out new workout routines.
• Add some weight exercises – muscles help in burning calories so don’t dodge the weight training room. “Add weight-bearing exercises like planks, lunges, squats and tricep dips to your workouts three times a week.”

Challenge and Reward..

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How’s my ongoing weight loss and diet faring? Hmmmm, I’m getting pretty desperate here and with my family intent on making me fail in my goal to be a bit thinner and they make it a point to tempt me with really really good food, well its hard.

Anyway, I’ve decided to change tactics and instead of just dieting and exercising, I’ve decided to set something like a goal and reward myself when I achieve that goal. My current goal is at least to be consistent with diet and exercise and if I could do that for three consecutive months I’m rewarding myself with a gadget I’ve been wanting to have. I’ve been checking out digital camera reviews coz I’m thinking of getting a new digital camera that is not so bulky. One I could take anywhere with me, small enough to slip into my pocket or a pouch bag and not so expensive, just perfect for taking photos I’ll be featuring on my blogs.

I’m currently using a 10 megapixel Sony Cybershot digicam and I love it to pieces but there are times I find it a bit bulky to sport around like when I’m just going to the market. I know some might find it weird that I need to have a digital camera with me but I am serious when I say that a handy digital camera is a necessity if you are a blogger. Photos makes blogs all the more interesting not to mention the crowd it brings. Almost half of my site visitors for my other blogs find me from searching for images!

Anyway, I really hope I would not break the exercising habit coz at least now I’ve been consistent with it for the past month. Two more months to go.. =) And I’m looking forward to rewarding myself..