Search Google images for recent, shirtless images of Arnold Schwarzenegger and you might be able to find a sad and depressing image of the greatest bodybuilder in world history. Maybe it’s just the stress of running the state of California, not an easy task. Maybe it’s the side effects of the steroids he allegedly admitted to taking. Maybe he’s just eating too much and no longer exercising two hours a day like he used to claim.

It’s no longer about how you spin it though, the 2009 Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t an advertisement for the long-term health and fitness benefits of weightlifting.

Compare today’s Terminator to the author of this book, who is only five years younger.

What would you like to look like when you are their age?

Now that you must be convinced that bodyweight exercises can keep you young and strong, Peterson has written a book full of many ways to build your muscles with his Transformametrics Training System.

The author contracted polio at the age of 4 and was left with broken legs that forced him to use crutches. After an encounter with a bully at age 10, his grandfather and a friend of his introduced him to courses taught by Charles Atlas and Earle Leiderman. He hasn’t stopped since.

It begins by listing the 7 attributes of dynamic functional fitness: strength, flexibility, endurance, speed, balance, coordination, and aesthetics.

There are twelve lessons and it prescribes a ten week program beginning with lessons one and two. However, Lesson One does include some extremely advanced push-ups that are not for beginners.

I for one was unclear exactly what exercises to start with. Although he says to exercise for 30 minutes at a time, even doing the Lesson One warmups would take longer than that. Plus, that lesson includes what he calls the three most important ones: Hindu (or Furey) pushups, Hindu (or Furey) squats, and the Atlas pushup.

This is a problem I have noticed in other exercise books. They give you the exercises, they tell you what each one is for, they make suggestions on how to do them, but it’s still up to you to design the schedule that’s best for you, depending on the condition you’re in and the time you have available.

The final section of the book illustrates the problem. He promises that no matter how weak you are now, in six weeks or less you’ll be able to do 500 push-ups a day. Not necessarily all at once, but 500 in total. And he tells several success stories.

He then provides photographs illustrating 13 push-up variations. Then it just says to do as many variations as possible every day.

That is? Should I keep running? How about other exercises? Maybe, like the military man who went from 50 pounds overweight to stud in just a month just from doing push-ups, that’s enough.

It’s worth a try.

My personal beliefs in cardio are very varied. I find that cardio does many different things to my body; some affect me well and others don’t affect me as much. I will share with you my personal experience with cardio.

First of all, you better explain what cardio is. Cardio in my books is any activity that lasts for a long period of time (say 10 minutes) that uses large amounts of energy. This could be anything from running on a treadmill, jumping rope, or even doing manual labor. I will say that some of the best cardio sessions I have ever been involved in were climbing stacks of shingles up a ladder all day! Other people’s opinion may differ and not include outside work, but it all does the same thing – burns calories. However, for the purposes of this article, I will be talking about cardiovascular exercise that is done in the gym.

The good: Cardio is the healthiest exercise you can do with your body. I have no doubt in my mind about this as it is what strengthens your heart. You can live without bulging biceps, but you have absolutely no luck without a good heart. I recommend doing cardio every day, even if it’s just for ten minutes. Go for a run on the treadmill in the morning to kick start your day, or take a thirty-minute walk after work to get your heart rate up a bit. Cardio is always necessary, even if some of us don’t like it (including me). Where some people seem to get confused is how much cardio to do. Let me explain:

If you’re trying to bulk up, you should do a little less cardio, especially if you’re having trouble eating enough to do so. To gain size, you must be in a caloric surplus (eating more calories than you burn in a day). If you’re doing large amounts of cardio while trying to gain weight, you’ll need to eat more. While I have never had an appetite problem, I know many people who do. They keep their cardio to a minimum when trying to bulk up because they have trouble consuming the necessary calories. I also recommend doing cardio after weight training in this situation. I’m a firm believer that the weights should come first, so you can push yourself to the max on them. Long-distance cardio, like running on a treadmill, doesn’t require a lot of effort, so it can be done after lifting weights. There is also another secret that I strongly believe in. Since I know everyone eats breakfast before lifting weights (if they don’t read my blog post on eating breakfast before lifting weights), they get additional benefits from their workout by doing cardio afterwards. Because doing cardio increases blood flow and blood supply to your muscles, you can more easily get the nutrients needed by overworked muscles. This will help your muscles get stronger and repair faster. In my personal experience, it hurts less when I do cardio after a workout than when I don’t. It’s honestly pretty amazing. In my personal experience, when I’m bulking up, I like to do 10 minutes of cardio 5 days a week (I only do weight lifting Mon-Fri). Sometimes I do more on the weekend, but I have an appetite to make up for it.

Second, you may be trying to reduce weight. In this case, I recommend more cardio. As I mentioned in some of my previous articles, calories in vs. calories out is the name of the game to lose weight. You should consume fewer calories than you burn in a day. This is where cardio really shines in most people’s eyes. Take for example someone like me who loves to eat (I really love to eat; it can be a real problem when trying to diet). If I need to consume 2,000 calories to lose weight, I can simply eat 2,500 calories and do 500 calories of cardio to hit my 2,000 calorie mark. Quite simply, doing cardio while trying to lose weight helps you feel more satisfied throughout the day. Instead of eating nothing but salad, throw a baked potato into the mix (potatoes are loaded with potassium, by the way, which helps reduce the chance of muscle cramps). All you have to do is increase your cardio to reach your weight loss goals! Don’t get out of hand though, as I wouldn’t recommend doing more than 30 minutes of cardio every day. When I’m trying to get back in shape for the summer, I usually do about 20 minutes of cardio every day of the week. I run at a decent pace (usually around 6 miles per hour), but I feel like that’s a lot of cardio. If I engage in any additional cardio I tend to feel very depleted as my body can’t recover as well in a calorie deficit.

I also forgot to mention that the pace of your cardio also makes a big difference when calculating my recommended times. If you prefer walking for cardio, you can walk much longer than my recommended times, as it burns far fewer calories per minute. You will have to go longer than my recommended times to achieve the same results. Another thing to note is dealing with daily activities. If you’re a construction worker, you’ll probably need to do little to no additional cardio to achieve your desired results. If you’re trying to gain weight and stay healthy, I’d say it’s probably a good thing. If you’re trying to lose weight, you may need extra cardio, but not a lot.

Again, as I always like to point out, none of this is gospel. Results will vary depending on your body, but I think this is a great guide to get you started. Stay safe and happy lifting!

Snowboarding is basically a form of exercise that requires mental stress and stability of the physical body at a high level. If you probably consider this sport to be one of the easiest sports in the world, then you should think about this fact again. It would definitely require a lot of training where you need to balance your body muscles and almost constant attention as well. If you feel that your muscles and body are not balanced and stiff for snowboarding, then it is better to do some of the best and most important exercises at home.

Here we are discussing some of the most important and healthy exercises you can do at home for snowboarding activities:

lunges

You may have performed lunges at some point in your life. For some people, it is quite painful because it requires putting a lot of pressure on the knee area. But once you get used to it, you won’t find any kind of pain or pressure on your knees at any time of the day. You should try this exercise right now! This is very useful for your body!

It is quite easy to perform. You just need to stand up straight and take a step forward. Now that you’ve stepped forward, you’ve lowered your back knee to the ground and stretched out. You will definitely feel a lot of some kind of tension in the thighs of your body.

squats

This has been another best and most important exercise that is required for stretching and flexibility of the body. It will not only shape the thigh areas, but at the same time, it will also strengthen the hip and quadriceps areas.

You have to force yourself to sit against the side of the wall and feel like you are sitting on a chair. Give your body a 90 degree angle and stay in this position for at least one minute. This will be useful to give your legs the necessary strength.

Push ups and abs

This has been one of the most common exercises you can perform at home. This exercise is very helpful in building a strong abdominal system for your body. Here we would like to mention that while performing push-ups and set-ups, you should not bend your body, in case you are a beginner. It might be painful for you at first, but once you get used to it, it will definitely be easy for you to do on a daily basis.

So this was the end of the discussion on some of the best and most common exercises you can do at home for snowboarding. All the exercises are the best to add your body with the adequate strength and power to successfully perform this sporting activity.

Without wasting time, set a daily schedule and start doing these exercises right now!

Reducing the weight in the thighs and buttocks is really a difficult task for many people. It definitely takes more time and effort to exercise than it does to lose belly fat. However, if you can fully dedicate yourself to these seven tips, you can achieve the desired results in a matter of time.

The seven tips are:

one. Hydrate–Drinking a large amount of water will help you flush out toxins from your body and in turn help you lose weight.

2. Having a low carbohydrate diet–If you can’t lose completely, try reducing the amount of white carbs you eat. Examples of foods rich in carbohydrates are potatoes, white bread, pasta, etc. You can replace them with whole-grain carbohydrates provided by wheat pasta, wheat bread, and brown rice.

3. Up your protein–You can offset low carb intake with a high protein diet. However, remember to cut fat from chicken, steak, pork, and eat lean meat, eggs, turkey bacon, lean pork, and chicken breast more often.

Four. Start doing cardio exercises for beginners:You can start doing this by walking thirty minutes every day, either outdoors or on a treadmill.

5. Level Up With Advanced Cardio Workouts–Since all exercises need to be increased, you can increase the intensity of your cardio by doing a few bodyweight lunges every other day.

6. Start a beginner weight lifting routine:Use heavier weights for your upper body and low reps to build more size, and higher reps and lighter weights for your lower body to slim down your waist, thigh, and buttock areas.

7. Go upstairs with an advanced bodybuilding program–If you’ve been sticking with the six tips for six weeks, you can now begin a bodybuilding program that will define and sculpt your new, leaner body. You burn and reduce fat by building muscle, so the more muscle you have in your body, the higher metabolic rate you will have, therefore, you will lose more weight.

From the time I was a little girl, through my glorious 20s (thankfully behind me, no pun intended) and early 30s (before I had my son), maintaining my weight was never an issue. I always trusted the fact that by watching what I ate, if my weight increased, a little non-stressful exercise would be all I needed to get me back to my ideal weight.

meta things change

After the birth of my son (and gaining 60 pounds during the pregnancy), my thyroid, which was always difficult, more or less decided to give up the ghost. Actually, when she was about 21 years old, it was discovered that she had a problem with hypothyroidism (which is where she gains weight most easily and other unpleasant symptoms). I had been religiously doing my annual blood tests and taking the little pill every day. However, even that changed after giving birth. A normal thyroid ranges from 0.4-0.6, mine was 10.0, a sure indication that it had sunk and is no longer regulating my body effectively.

So get on the diet cycle

Even at the age of 16, obsessed with maintaining a trim figure, I would “invent” my own diets. I remember one was nothing more than boiled eggs, toast and something to drink. And I lost 18 pounds in two weeks doing it (eggs are the secret).

Later in life, I followed the Scarsdale Diet. I can tell you that it really works, but over time you start to really hate tomatoes. Meat is definitely on the Scarsdale menu, along with plenty of vegetables and even fruit. It really is balanced. You just don’t get a lick of anything that smells “sweet”. Oh, and I can’t stand black coffee.

He then moved on to “diet in a box” variations. Sure they work, but after a week or so, the cardboard box smell along with the food dampens your appetite anyway… maybe that’s why it works. And yes, combining the right amounts of carbs, protein, and fat is the real secret.

Which led me to… the Atkins diet.

I didn’t jump into Atkins. I read the book cover to cover and did some research on my own. Good, solid scientific data, along with an eye-opening look at the lobbyist telling us what’s good to eat and what’s not (read those high-sugar cereal manufacturers who threaten us that eggs aren’t good for us, just their products are the best.

Okay, with the research behind me and my robust Atkins diet in hand, I purged my kitchen of all the nasty (but wonderful) goodies and started on the 14-day portion of the diet.

Sure enough, the scale did (and still does) move, but more importantly and almost immediately, my clothes start to “feel right” again.

You stay on the 14-day induction diet for (duh) 14 days. However, if you are really overweight, you can stick with less than 20 grams of carbs for longer. And yes, if you are seriously overweight, you are still healthy.

I am not going to go into detail about the various stages of this “lifetime change in eating habits” diet. It’s all in the book, and I suggest you read it. A lot of people I know tell me, “Oh, but that’s not a good diet. You eat too much ___ or ____. And that’s not healthy.”

My first question to people who make negative comments is: “Have you read the book?”

The answer, when something truly ridiculous is thrown at me, is a resounding… no. Yet they maintain with an air of dodgy authority that they are right. I just smile and keep moving. I’m skinny, most of the time (and I don’t mean this harshly), they need some serious weight maintenance.

To give you a clue about Atkins, I started back (yes, I know it’s supposed to be a way of eating for life, but when have we, the American public, ever done anything fully committed?) late last year (around August 2005) I had an unfortunate 30 pounds sitting on my butt that needed to be removed before it became 50 or more. Pretzels and high carb snacks (where you just grab a quick handful) are my downfall.

By February 2006, I had lost (and still haven’t lost) 33 pounds. That’s seven months of eating the right combinations of protein, fat, and carbohydrates as outlined in the Atkins diet plan. Averaging just under 5 pounds a month or 1.25 pounds a week (give or take), this is a healthy approach to losing weight while keeping it off.

I even made my own smoothie that works wonders. Ice, Carb Hood Chocolate drink (of course chocolate), some Splenda and/or Torani Sugar Free Hazelnut, and a can of Atkin’s Chocolate Royale. It fills you up, it’s loaded with vitamins and minerals, and best of all it works wonders as you lose weight.

So now you know my story about losing weight and losing weight. But before I go, I would also like to bring your mind to this lovely reality.

Why are tons of “order our diet in a box” commercials popping up all of a sudden? What is the first thing they tell you? All about the glycemic ratio, of course, and, if done in the right proportions for you, “the pounds melt away in no time!”

Yes, they are right. But these same people, along with all the wonder-pill makers and the “health-conscious” community, were until recently the very ones yelling at you that the Atkins diet was unhealthy.

Duh… Atkins wrote and implemented the correct mixed carbohydrate diet decades ago. He at least he has decades of research and true stories to back up what he has said all along.

Combine the right foods for any individual and anyone can lose weight. Add in a little walking to get your butt off the couch and moving, and you’ve got a surefire recipe for losing weight and keeping it off for the rest of your life.

Find out what works for you, do it, stick with it, and you can be as healthy and fit as is natural to YOU.

(c) Theresa Cahill 2006 – All rights reserved

Mike Geary’s The Truth About Abs is not a bodybuilding book and doing resistance training (aka weights) will NEVER lead to muscle gain while dieting. And sadly, if you’ve deluded yourself into thinking you can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, that won’t happen either. Beginners may gain a few pounds of muscle (usually 2-3 pounds) when they start training, but the purpose of resistance training is as follows:

1. Maintain your LBM (lean body mass). LBM is what your metabolism gives you. If you want to burn calories, you need to preserve your muscle mass (this includes your heart, lungs, organs, skeleton, skin, etc.). Your body fat doesn’t burn calories, muscle does.
2. Increase your calories burned. A well-structured exercise program based on interval or resistance training of any kind will burn calories quickly and efficiently. Many times better than biking or running.
3. Make it feel great: Honestly, getting good at resistance training is a life-changing event for many. You will be surprised at how much stronger you feel. The stronger and fitter you feel, the more likely you are to make a real change with your weight.

Here’s the thing: You can’t gain weight while following Mike Geary’s The Truth About Abs because you’re eating a caloric deficit. If you follow the plans laid out in Mike Geary’s eBooks, you’ll eat enough but not overeat. As long as this is the case, resistance training is just priming your metabolism, burning fat, and helping you get a leaner, stronger physique. The other key to preparing for fat burning with resistance training is eating the right amounts of protein while you exercise. Protein is not only necessary to preserve your lean body during your diet, but it also satisfies your appetite. More than any other macronutrient, protein is an appetite killer. Imagine eating 5 egg whites and 2 egg yolks in the morning with toast. Your plate will be full of food and you will feel full for hours. The trick is that this protein-rich meal will be less than 500 calories! Throw in some veggies along with this breakfast and you’ll be eating something that’s not only nutritious for your health, fills you up (so you’ll NEVER feel hungry), but also helps you lose that stubborn belly fat.

Bottom line, the key, the real “SECRET” to all of this is proper exercise (not just exercising blindly, but focusing and doing the right exercises) and sensible eating (not starving yourself but eating the right KINDS of food). ).

If you are a teen or a parent of a teen looking for facts and things to learn about weight training for teens, then you are reading the right article. The hints and tips below will give you an overview of the many things surrounding strength training for teens, including answers to the questions “Is it normal to let a teen lift weights?” or “Does the adolescent need to take supplements by mouth?” or “What foods are allowed in teen weight training?”.

It is normal when children want to carry out a weight training program. Even doctors recommend it for weight loss, especially if the young adult is on the verge of obesity. The sad thing about exercise and weight training is that others start doing the routines when they are older or when their bodies move a lot due to excess fat. In physical exercises, the sooner the better is the key. Teenagers need to know how to take care of their health and body appearance as soon as possible. Strength training for teens can do many wonders for a child’s lifestyle.

There are many benefits and advantages to weight training for beginners. Probably the most important of these are benefits that clearly affect your health. Listed below are the health benefits of weight training exercises for teens:

• Strength training strengthens the adolescent’s body, particularly his muscles and bones. This will help reduce any form of osteoporosis or any back pain in the future.
• Weight lifting can boost a teen’s metabolism.
• Strength training activities are great for solving or improving a teenager’s coordination or balance problem.
• Activity can definitely tone your teen’s muscles. It will not only increase her energy; it will also increase their self-confidence.
• Workouts and exercise routines can keep a teen busy, so there is only a small window of opportunity for bad elements like drugs and alcohol to worry.

The following are some tips and tricks that a teenager or the parents of a teenager can do and follow to have a safer routine for children.

• Consult the doctor. If you are a teenager who wants to start weight lifting programs, you should ask your parent or guardian to accompany you to the doctor. The consultation is important to avoid any future health risk. Of course, if you have heart disease, doctors can advise you on what kinds of routines can benefit your heart and keep you away from heart strains.
• Research on bodybuilding. Teenagers are enthusiastic and impulsive by nature. And while these qualities are adorable, they can also cause harm. If the teenager decided to enroll in the gym for physical training, then he should inquire about it. You have to know what types of routines your body can handle. Make sure you know your strengths and weaknesses so that you have an idea of ​​what to improve and what to improve. You also need to research the variety of nutrition you need to take.
• As much as possible, say no to supplements. Try to exercise without the help of pills and drugs to avoid health complications in the future.

Injury risks are prevalent in any workplace, especially to the upper body. To help prevent injuries from occurring or to add to the rehabilitation of an injury, dumbbells are predominantly used. Dumbbells can target specific muscles in the ligaments of the arms, chest, shoulders, back, abdomen, and legs. Physical therapists have been using the dumbbell in rehabilitation for many years to help strengthen muscles such as the deltoid and other muscles. The reason behind this is that by strengthening the muscles and ligaments around the high-risk body parts, such as the arms and shoulders (from various movements), the back (from lifting, pushing, pulling, etc. incorrectly ), legs (from lifting objects incorrectly). ) will prevent future injuries. Make sure the Hampton Ultrabell Dumbbell Set is in your home gym.

Rotator cuff injury is a very common injury in the workplace. The rotatorium uses four specific muscles. To prevent further injury, each muscle must be treated and strengthened. The dumbbells can target each of these four muscles specifically to rebuild strength in each of them, equally preventing repeat injury or further damage.

A physical therapist will start you with the lightest weight dumbbell for the extent of the injury and will teach you proper form and required exercises to target the specific muscles that need to be strengthened. As the muscles begin to get stronger, the therapist will increase the weight to build the existing muscle. They may also suggest that you continue therapy at home. You’ll want to get a set of dumbbells that matches the weights recommended by your physical therapist. A good dumbbell set for this is the Hampton Ultrabell dumbbell set. They come in a light-weight set and a heavy-weight set, making it easy to match the therapist’s recommendation and open up the world of total-body workouts for better health and physique.

High-impact athletes like soccer players and wrestlers have been using dumbbells as part of their normal exercise routine forever. They know the benefits of a solid dumbbell workout and remember it every time they’re in the game. Dumbbell workouts have prevented many sports injuries and for the unfortunate injuries that do occur, dumbbells have been used in their rehabilitation.

There’s no need to wait until an injury occurs to learn the great benefits of exercising with dumbbells. With dumbbells you can achieve a leaner, firmer and stronger body, build muscle, build muscle mass, tone and define, burn calories, build self-esteem, while strengthening your heart and avoiding osteoporosis faster than any other form of weight training. exercise. exercise.

Now that the weather is getting warmer, we all need to remember the importance of monitoring our fluid intake. When it’s hot, you lose a lot of fluid through sweat. Among other things, this can result in a decrease in blood volume that would make it harder for your body to cool down. High humidity can also be a factor in preventing your body from cooling down by preventing sweat from evaporating. So if you’re exercising outside, be sure to follow these tips:

• Exercise early in the morning or late at night when temperatures are quite low.
• Wear loose-fitting, light-colored clothing made from a fabric that “breathes.”
• Drink plenty of water before and during your workout.

How much water should I consume?

Muscle tissue is made up of more than 70% water and is very important for cellular activity, so make sure you consume plenty of water throughout the day. The more protein you eat in your diet, the more water you need to help flush out waste products like ammonia and urea. Sweating from a grueling workout will also cause you to lose more water. A good rule of thumb to follow to ensure you stay adequately hydrated is to multiply your body weight in pounds by 0.55. This will give you a good goal to aim for as to how many ounces of water to drink. For example, a 180-pound person would need to drink about 99 ounces of water a day. That’s about five 20-ounce bottles of water.

What about my electrolyte balance?

Electrolyte balance is crucial to many bodily functions. The primary electrolytes in the body are calcium, potassium, sodium, and magnesium, and they are actually considered macrominerals. Some examples of what can be caused by an electrolyte imbalance are:

• Elevated potassium levels that could lead to cardiac arrhythmia
• A decrease in extracellular potassium can cause paralysis
• Excess extracellular sodium causes fluid retention
• Decreased calcium can cause muscle spasms.

There are several drinks on the market right now that will help keep your electrolyte balance in check, Gatorade and Powerade being two popular examples. Drinking one of these after a strenuous workout can go a long way in replenishing electrolytes lost through sweating.

Hydration before exercise

If you know you’ll be exercising outside for an extended period of time, or perhaps playing a sport like basketball, soccer, football, etc., a good tip would be to start hydrating about 4 hours beforehand. Drink about 8 ounces of water every 10 to 15 minutes until about an hour before you start. Then drink another 16 ounces at the hour mark. Make sure you don’t drink anything for the last half hour, giving your body at least 30 minutes to absorb the water. During your exercise/play, be sure to continue to drink 8-10 ounces of water or an electrolyte drink, especially if it’s hot and humid.

As long as you make sure you’re drinking enough water throughout the day and replenishing your electrolytes after vigorous exercise, exercising outside won’t be a problem for you. Drink and enjoy the sun!!

With all the talk about healthy eating and weight loss today, we really need to stop and think a bit about the fast food and ready-to-use processed food industry. One really needs to be aware of the fat, calories, and sodium lurking in these products.

As a parent, you are approached by your hungry child who wants food and RIGHT NOW! He must also be aware of his own eating habits. If you are eating healthy you will also want your children to eat healthy. It’s a “family” situation.

A package of cookies or chips is much easier to pull out when you’re involved in an already busy schedule. But what are these items doing to your children’s health? Even if they don’t have a weight problem, this is not healthy food fare. Good nutritious food should be our first thought. Packaged foods that are readily available are lacking in healthy goodness. Here are some suggestions for quick snacks:

• Apple wedges are tasty dipped in peanut or almond butter.
• Carrot sticks or cucumber slices are delicious dipped in a light salad dressing.
• A whole wheat tortilla spread with a little peanut butter and a small amount of natural fruit preserves and then rolled up will satisfy a hearty appetite.
• Keep frozen banana chunks, fruits and berries in the freezer. (Alton Brown on the Food Network recently shared a tip. Peel bananas off the skin and put them in a plastic bag in your freezer. You won’t end up with those terrible black bananas.) Put the fruit with juice, soy milk, or skim milk in a blender and mix up a delicious fruit smoothie.
• A good pre-dinner snack to keep on hand for children ages 3 and up is to wash the grapes, cut them, and store them in the freezer. As these could be a choking hazard, do not give to young children.
• Make your own trail mix with raw sunflower seeds and raisins. The sweet and salty combination is a hit with kids and adults alike. Before serving anything with nuts, be sure to check for possible food allergies.

Vegetables with light salad dressing, tortilla wraps and trail mix can be packed in a cooler and taken on the road or stored in the office fridge for when Mr. Hungry arrives.

Now let’s go to eat in Fast Food Establishments:

There are times when fast food is unavoidable. Time and budget constraints require us to visit our friendly burger and fried chicken joints. Let’s face it, fast food restaurants and their drive-thru help stick to our schedules when we’re trying to stay on schedule.

Although you may need to stop for fast food, do your research ahead of time. You can go online and find out how many calories, grams of fat, etc. They are found in the various items on the menus of the different fast food chains. Then you’ll be prepared to make a healthier choice when you stop. You can easily consume your calorie allotment for the day and more in one meal. Learn to make healthy choices. They exist even in fast food. And remember that the plus size tends to do just that… Super size for you!

Forget the fries. Most fast food chains offer salads. Stay away from fattening dressings. Opt for a light dressing or oil and vinegar.

Most fast food places now carry some type of fruit. Ask for extra tomatoes, lettuce, and pickles on your sandwich. If you have the option of ordering a baked potato, this would be a good option. Be sure not to use the high-calorie ingredients on offer.

Even with something as simple as ordering a drink, you have healthy choices to make. Your waist will pay the price of your decision. Soda isn’t a good choice, and diet soda, depending on the artificial sweetener used, isn’t as healthy either. Water is always a good option. Other good selections would be unsweetened tea, 100% juice (not juice drinks), or low-fat milk. Here again look at the super size.

Don’t leave your portion ready at home when you’re away. The extra calories, which translate into pounds, you will be facing when you return from your trip. If you “have” to order the cheap meal, share it with a friend. A kids’ meal may be the answer to your portion control! If you order smaller portions, you won’t be tempted to overeat.

Beware of the extras. A dollop of mayonnaise, adding another slice of cheese, or additional sauces can really add up. Mustard is a good option since it is low in calories and carbohydrates.

Try to order meats on the grill or in the oven. Breaded chicken burgers will sabotage your waistline for sure. Battered fried fish could be a disaster.

As touted in The Biggest Loser, a Subway sandwich, especially a vegetarian one, can be an answer to your food concerns. If you are on a low carb diet, discard the roll and eat the filling.

If you find yourself leaving the house without stopping for breakfast, you may fail if you plan to stop at a fast food restaurant. This could very well be the start of the day’s calorie overload. Instead of a breakfast sandwich, order a bowl of fresh fruit, fruit and yogurt parfait, oatmeal cereal with milk, or just eggs.

As an example of various fast food chains and their options:

arby’s Beef and Cheddar Cheese – 440 calories/21 grams of fat

Best Choice – Roast Beef Jr = 270 calories/9 grams of fat

Savings: calories/12 grams of fat

king of burgers Original Whopper – 700 calories/39 grams of fat

Best Choice – Hamburger – 310 calories/12 grams of fat

Savings: 390 calories/27 grams of fat

by hardee Double Thick Burger – 1240 calories/90 grams of fat

Best option: thick burger: 850 calories/57 grams of fat

Savings: 390 calories/33 grams of fat

mcdonald’s Big Mac – 560 calories/30 grams of fat

Best Choice: Burger – 260 calories/9 grams of fat

Savings: 300 calories/21 grams of fat

sonic Super Sonic Cheeseburger – 839 calories/55 grams of fat

Best Choice: Jr Burger – 353 calories/21 grams of fat

Savings: 486 calories/34 grams of fat

Wendy’s Big Bacon Classic – 580 calories/29 grams of fat

Best Choice: Jr. Burger – 280 calories/9 grams of fat

Savings: 300 calories/20 grams of fat

I hope this information has been helpful. It’s a real revelation when you see these figures in black and white.

Both children and adults can have an unhealthy lifestyle that will affect their health and the way they live their lives.

If you want to learn more about what I do, check out this information at http://judyconway.com.