https://abcstrength.com/how-to-prevent-rebound-weight-gain/

Do you find yourself losing and gaining weight back on? This isn’t strange. Most people that plan to lose weight have a goal in mind which is good; this is something you should aim for. But it seems like after achieving this goal they tend to relax and in no time and gain the weight back on.

Fitness is a lifelong journey. It is not possible to stay fit and remain that way. If you stop doing fitness, your level of fitness deteriorates and you gain unnecessary weight. This is where lifestyle comes into play. Even a fitness icon like Arnold Schwarzenegger is not always in top form although he is of elderly age now. No matter what, there will be times in your life where fitness will suffer for whatever reason; it may be due to illness, stress, lack of motivation or busyness.

The Role of Leptin in Weight Gain
Remaining slim if you were once overweight or obese isn’t easy, in fact, your body also fights against this. There is a hormone “Leptin” that is produced by the fat cells of the body. This hormone normally inhibits hunger but is increased in the overweight and obese because of the high amount of fat cells.

The high amount of Leptin results in its reduced sensitivity leading to Leptin resistance. This will result in high appetite making it difficult to stay in shape or lose weight.

Even after weight loss, which will result in lower levels of leptin, there is still leptin resistance — making it easy to gain the weight back on.

What You Should Do

Change your lifestyle
It’s mostly about your lifestyle. Some factors you can’t control, but this you have 100 percent control over. From when you sleep to where you go, to what you do, what you eat and the people you surround yourself with. Get enough sleep. Avoid stress. Avoid eating out or eating late. Drink lots of water. Break bad habits.

Get a fitness hobby
Start dancing, swimming, running, playing tennis etc. Read the 15 Best Ways to Relax. This not only will make you burn excess calories but will also condition your mind to fitness by hanging around other fit people, thereby wanting to be fit yourself.

Include simple cardio activities in your daily routine
Instead of taking the car to the mall nearby, go on foot. Use the stairs instead of the elevator. Some other simple cardio activities are stretching, jogging, squat jumping etc. This will burn excess, unwanted calories and make you stay in shape.

Control what you eat
As you may know, diet is key to weight loss and weight gain. Cut out sugar and junk food. Excess sugar is converted and stored as fat. Sometimes the cravings for sweet food can be too much, learn to break this urge and replace it with eating fruits and other healthy food.

Avoid buying bigger clothes than you ought to
Don’t buy clothes bigger than what you want to look like. This will motivate you not to want to gain weight. You can also buy the type of clothes you want to fit you and work until these clothes fit you.

Do home workouts
Start small. A simple exercise like 5 push-ups daily can make you stay in shape. Shape your home workout routine depending on your fitness goal. Make sure you don’t skip them. Make them as easy and as efficient as possible. For example “Doing 10 push-ups before taking a shower. Home workouts are easier and more convenient than gym workouts.

Use your imagination
How do you want your body to look like? Yous should have an image in your mind. It might be that of a famous actor, actress or singer. Think of what this person might be doing to maintain such great shape. Try to do the same. Of course, don’t overdo it. Imagine the type of body you want and work towards it.

Lastly, surround yourself with positive people
These should be people that motivate you and are examples of what you want to look like. If you don’t already have these people in your life through your activities and hobbies, it’s time to make new friends. Just copy them and do what they do. Don’t make it look weird. In fact, you may even let them know. Most people are cool with that.

For more information on fitness and health visit https://abcstrength.com/

Watch video summary with workouts and explanation https://abcstrength.com/5-best-triceps-workouts-for-beginners/

The triceps is the large muscle on the back of the upper arm. It consists of three heads: the long head, the lateral head and the medial head.

The is a very important muscle, it’s the biggest muscle of the upper arm. So if you want to get bigger arms, you should concentrate on working this muscle out.

Its function is to extend the elbow joint. Below are the 5 best triceps workout to get a bigger arm for beginners.

5 Best Triceps Workouts For Beginners

1. Bench Dips

This exercise requires that you use your body weight to strengthen your triceps. Grip the edge of a gym bench with both hands, place your body in front and your legs extended as if you were trying to sit down. Go down and up slowly with the bench acting as support.

This exercise primarily works your triceps but also engages your forearm, shoulder, chest and lower back muscles.

To increase the intensity, place your feet on another exercise bench or add additional weight on your lap for more intensity.

2. Overhead Tricep Extension

Using dumbbells, take an appropriate weight for you, raise it up to a 90 degrees position. Fully flex your hand medially, behind your head at the elbow, then extend back to a 90 degrees position. Do several reps then change hands and repeat.

This exercise ensures that you work each arm separately and ensure one stronger side isn’t carrying the weaker one.

You can use the other hand for support and stability. Use a bigger weight to increase the intensity.

3. Skull Crushers

This exercise is also known as Lying triceps extensions. Do this exercise preferably using an EZ-bar. Lye down on a gym bench and lift the EZ bar with appropriate weights attached to a 90 degrees position.

Then flex your hand fully backwards behind your head and extend again. Do several reps and sets as many as suitable for you.

This exercise works all parts of the triceps and is one of the most stimulating exercises for your triceps. It should be part of your triceps workout regimen.

4. Triceps Dips

To do this exercise, face back to a dip machine, grab its hands, and hoist yourself up with your legs crossed and knees bent. You then elevate and depress causing your body weight to exert pressure on the triceps.

Just like bench dips this exercise also engages your forearm, shoulder, chest and lower back muscles. Although, it’s more difficult than bench dips.

5. Tricep Rope Pushdown

Attach a tricep rope to the upper part of the cable pulley machine. Adjust the weight appropriately and pull down the rope expanding it at the end. Do several reps and sets.

This exercise is good for improving the long head of the triceps.

The Mediterranean diet includes high consumption of olive oil, legumes, cereals, fruits and vegetables, moderate to high consumption of fish, moderate consumption of dairy products mostly cheese and yoghurt.

It is the modern nutritional recommendation for reducing the lipid profile of the body. It helps prevent diseases such as obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, hypertension and heart attack.

In fact, the Mediterranean diet is a lifestyle. It bases on the tradition of the Mediterranean people. These are the people in all the countries bordering the Mediterranean sea.

This eating habit originated in the middle ages, in ancient Rome were eating bread, wine, oil products, supplemented by sheep cheese, fruits, vegetables, little meat, fish and seafood were common.

Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet

It increases the body’s metabolism
 The Mediterranean diet is rich in fibre which is easy to digest, increases the body's metabolism, boosts energy and also helps the digestion process of the body.

It keeps the heart healthy
 This diet is low in cholesterol which is important to prevent heart diseases such as hypertension and heart attack. This is due to atherosclerosis -- lipid deposition in the walls of the arteries.

Prevents metabolic diseases
High lipid and fat content in the body predispose to metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. The Mediterranean diet is low in sugar and fats, therefore, prevents these diseases.

It’s a balanced diet
It contains the food nutrients in adequate proportion; carbohydrate, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals and water.

 Weight loss 
Diet is the most important aspect that you can control if you want to lose weight. Next is exercise. Mediterranean diet is low in sugar and animal fats, that cause weight gain and is rich in fruits and vegetables, fibre and plant fats, that reduce weight.

It makes you mentally healthy
It helps prevent depression and mental diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer's disease. The Mediterranean diet is an anti-inflammatory diet which reduces the risk of depression. Your physical health correlates with your mental health.

Components

Olives  and Olive oil
They are a vital part of the Mediterranean diet. Olives are generally eaten wholly and can also be used for cooking.

Olive oil is the best source of dietary fats for cooking, baking and mixing salads and vegetables.

Nuts and Legumes
Nuts and Legumes common to the Mediterranean diet include; beans, almonds, cashew nuts, fava beans, green beans, hazelnuts, kidney beans, lentils, pistachios and walnuts.

They are good sources of plant fats and protein. Plant fats are preferred over animal fats because they are healthier and contain less amount of bad cholesterol.

Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits common to the Mediterranean diet are apples, apricot, cherries, grapefruits, melons, oranges, peaches, pears, tangerines, strawberries and tomatoes.

Vegetables common to the Mediterranean diet are arugula, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, mushrooms, okra, onions, peas, peppers, pumpkins, spinach and potatoes.

The vegetables are usually cooked or drizzled with olive oil.

Fish and Seafood
 Fish and Seafood are rich in protein. They are preferred to meat because they contain less amount of bad cholesterol and are rich in good cholesterol.

Fish common to the Mediterranean diet is tuna, herring, sardines, salmon and bream.

Seafood typically includes fish and shell food. Seafood common to the Mediterranean diet is abalone, crab, lobster, mackerel, oysters, salmons, sardines and tuna.

Dairy Products
These typically include cheese and yoghurt. They are good sources of calcium and vitamin D, proteins and other essential nutrients.
Diary products common to the Mediterranean diet are brie (cows-milk cheese), chevre (Goat cheese), feta (sheep’s milk cheese), pecorino ( made from sheep’s milk) and yoghurt.

Summary

 It’s worthy of note that despite all the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, it alone cannot help you lose weight or prevent diseases.

Other factors contribute to it as well. Furthermore, weight gain is a complex process that includes metabolism, genetics, ageing, diet, hormone regulation, and the impact of the environment on your lifestyle, including sleep, physical activity and stress.

For heart diseases, lifestyle is important; do you have bad habits, then you need to break them. It’s necessary to exercise for weight loss and a healthy heart.

For more information on fitness and health visit https://abcstrength.com

For more on fitness and health visit https://abcstrength.com/important-movements-for-workouts/

Whether you workout at the gym, at home, you work out with weights or not, you will be making movements.

You can’t just make any movement you like because this is unproductive. You need to know how to move and what you are doing just as you need to know how your muscles work. This will make your workouts more efficient and easier to do and also it will help you achieve your fitness goal. Furthermore, doing your workouts right will help prevent workout injuries.

Joints help facilitate movements for workouts. Important joints that help facilitate movements are the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and ankle joints.

Important movements and examples of exercises where you need these movements


Flexion and Extension. Flexion refers to a movement that decreases the distance between two body parts while extension refers to a movement that increases the distance between two body parts. For example, to do bicep curls, you will need to flex and extend the arms. Flexion brings your forearm closer to your upper arm decreasing the angle between them while extension takes your forearm away from your upper arm increasing the angle between them.

Abduction and Adduction. These terms are used to describe movements towards or away from the midline of the body. Abduction is the movement away from the midline while adduction is the movement away from the midline. For example, to do Rear delt raise you need to abduct and adduct both arms.

Medial and Lateral Rotation. Rotation is the movement of the limbs along their long axis in relation to the midline of the body. Medial rotation is the rotation towards the midline while lateral rotation is the rotation away from the midline. You will need rotation mostly for core body workouts.

Elevation and Depression. Elevation is the movement in a superior direction while depression is the movement in an inferior direction. An example of an exercise you need this is the Dumbbell shoulder shrug.

Dorsiflexion and Plantarflexion. These terms are used to describe movements at the ankle. The dorsum is the superior surface of the foot while the plantar is the sole of the foot. Dorsiflexion, as the name suggests, is the flexion of the ankle towards its superior surface while plantarflexion is the extension of the foot towards its sole. Heel raise exercise requires the plantar flexion of the foot in the standing position.

Inversion and Eversion. These are terms for the rotation of the foot at the ankle joint in relation to the midline of the body. Inversion is the rotation inwards towards the midline while Eversion is the rotation outwards away from the midline. For example, you might want to invert or evert your feet while performing heel raises to increase or decrease the intensity of the workout.

Read full article https://abcstrength.com/how-to-relax-15-best-ways-to-relax/

Life can really be stressful, once in a while, you need to unwind. Well, as the saying goes “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. It’s necessary to learn how to relax right if not you might get stressed, fall ill, get depressed or even give up on your dreams and ambitions.

You shouldn’t see relaxation as a bad thing or as being lazy. It’s not only meant for hedonists. No matter how serious you are, how difficult your life may be, you need some bits of relaxation.

15 Best Ways To Relax

1. Take a Deep Breath
A simple but effective way to relax when you feel anxious or stressed is to simply take a deep breath. You can take several of them until you feel better.

The mechanism behind this is the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system which is concerned mostly with the relaxation of the organs of the body. It slows down the heart rate, decreases blood pressure, releases tension, makes the muscles less tensed. This opposes the actions of the sympathetic nervous system such as increased heart rate, blood pressure and muscle tension. The sympathetic nervous system can be activated by stress.

2. Get a Massage
Massage is always great, it feels even better when given by someone you’re attracted to. That may be your partner.

Massage also works by activating the parasympathetic system which is concerned with relaxation. In particular, massage releases muscle tension. It can help to treat muscle aches and back pains as a result of stress.

Massage of the carotid sinus stimulates the stretch receptors of the carotid artery leading to low heart rate and decreased blood pressure. This mechanism can be used to control arrhythmias, blood pressure and heart rate in people with heart diseases.

3. Go to a Sauna
A Sauna is a great place for relaxation. Sweating has lots of therapeutic benefits including flushing the body of wastes, toxins and improving skin health.

Saunas provide benefit for cardiovascular health that resembles those derived from exercise. Sauna helps your body reduce stress.

Your parasympathetic nervous system is activated in this environment which helps reduce tension, heart rate and lowers your blood pressure.

4. Find a New Hobby
Find a new hobby. It could be a new sport, a musical instrument or a challenge.

As humans when we stop growing and challenging ourselves to greater heights, our value depreciate. We start to see less purpose in life.

That’s why people in the pension age die faster when they are idle. Studies have shown that early retirement may mean earlier death.

You need to keep challenging yourself. Set goals, go to the gym, do things outside your comfort zone.

5. Go on a Vacation
How to relax the right way. Man sitting down with legs on his luggage, looking a plane flying outside.Vacations are awesome. Being in the same place for a long time can make you stressed, anxious or depressed. You see the same people every day, the same weather, the same places, nothing exciting.

Take a break from your routine and find exciting places and locales to visit. If you live in a cold country, try visiting a warm country and vice versa. Visit places you never thought you would go. Go get some new experiences.

Travelling nowadays isn’t as expensive as it used to be. All you have to do is a plan and save ahead.

6. Have Good Sex
The feeling of sex is one of the greatest feelings there is. It’s even better if it’s with some you love or someone you are attracted to.

Some people get anxious and depressed if they don’t have sex for long. If you’re in a committed relationship, you might want to reignite the fire in your relationship and have some great sex. Try some other ideas in this article, If you’re already doing that.

If you aren’t in a relationship, then it’s time to start searching for a partner.

And don’t forget to always practice safe sex.

7. Go on a Picnic
Call up some of your close friends, your partner or family and set up a picnic. Get some food, fruits, juice, good wine, vegetables and enjoy. Benefits of going on a picnic include a relaxing environment, getting some air, some good food, good talks, family bonding.

You can have a picnic at the beach, in a park or wherever it’s convenient.

8. Go to the Beach
How to relax the right way. Beautiful woman wearing a sunshade and a hat sitting down on the beach.The beach is a great place to relax. The atmosphere is just relaxing. If you live in a cold weather country, this might only be possible in summers. But you can still try going to a sauna or travelling to a warm-weather country and enjoy the beach atmosphere there.

In addition, you can get tanned, do some sport such as swimming and have a picnic while at the beach

9. Start Dancing or Doing Yoga
Dancing is a great way of relaxation and exercise. It works the same as exercising by releasing feel-good hormones.

If you don’t know how to dance, there are places where you can learn. Look for one close to you and register. You can find also find a dance partner to help you improve in dancing. Popular dances you can learn are Salsa, Bachata, Tango to mention but a few.How to relax the right way. A photo of man and woman dancing.

Personally, this is one of my favourites. I started learning how to dance salsa and I can assure you it’s worth it.

Yoga relaxes you by ensuring meditation. Meditation is a part of Yoga which deals with mental relaxation and concentration. Other benefits of yoga are; increased flexibility, increased muscle strength and tone, improved respiration, improved cardiovascular health, weight reduction and protection from injury.

10. Go for a Walk
Going outside for a walk is a great way of relaxation. It clears your mind, reduces anxiety, plus you can get some fresh air. It also brings you in contact with people which is vital for social interaction.

You can go for a walk in a park alone. It isn’t weird. Some people might think this is but these are what parks are meant for. If you have someone to go with, great, If not, walk around alone and find someone new to talk with.

It’s not compulsory you got to a park, you can walk where ever is convenient. Go to the mall, go window shopping, go to exciting places and walk around.

11. Get a Pet
Having and playing with pets can help decrease stress, anxiety, ease pain, lower blood pressure and improve mood.

Dogs are known to be able to notice emotions. They know when their owner is sad or depressed and how to cheer them up and make hem feel better.

Some of the popular pets to have are dogs, cats, hamsters and parrots.

12. Go to a Cinema, Watch TV, Listen to Music
These are classic ways of relaxation. Go to a cinema, see a new film of your choice, watch a film at home, watch your favourite programs on TV or listen to some music.

Music is known to be able to greatly influence emotions to reduce depression, anxiety, as well as to improve mood. You can use music to achieve a specific state.

Nowadays, social media is very popular especially among the younger generation and some see it as a form of relaxation in addition to getting in touch with family friends.

13. Start Doing Exercise
Exercise has several health benefits. It helps to reduce stress by reducing the hormones that are produced during stress such as cortisol and improves your mood by increasing the amount of dopamine and endorphins your brain produce. These are ‘feel good’ hormones that make you happy.

Other benefits of exercising include healthy heart, improving IQ, healthy skin and quality sleep.

You can start exercising with fitness basics here.

14. Get Quality Sleep
Have you ever been so anxious, worried or nervous about something, you sleep off, and when you are awake, you feel better? I guess a lot of time. Sleeping is one of the easiest ways to relax.

Nowadays when people sleep, they use alarm clocks. Alarm clocks change your biological clock’s set up. Your body knows the amount of sleep you need at a particular time and you want it to just do that.

If you want quality sleep, don’t use alarm clocks, sleep in a noiseless and warm environment. It’s advised to get at least 6-8 hours of sleep per day on the average. In some instances, it’s okay to let your body determine the amount to time you need. You will know this when you sleep uninterrupted and wake up.

15. Make New Friends
New interesting friends will keep you in a good mood. Make sure they are positive people that provide value and you do the same for them too. You can go out with your new friends, travel, do exciting things and so on.

It’s isn’t uncommon to see lonely people sad or depressed. As humans, we need social interaction and that’s the basis on which how societies are built.

If you don’t have new friends, then you can make some. Go to places where you will meet the type of people you want to make friends with, communicate and bond with them, provide some value and you will make some great friends.

Conclusion
Some common ways people relax such as smoking, drinking, using drugs, eating sugary foods aren’t advised because they aren’t optimal for good health.

Alcohol is an antidepressant and as a result, can make you more depressed and anxious. It also causes other health issues such as heart diseases and obesity.

Drugs can get you addicted and put you in a worse state when you experience the withdrawal effect.

Sugary foods aren’t good for your metabolism and will make you add weight.

There are several healthy ways to relax, find what suits you best and make sure you fix relaxation into your schedule.

Life is too short to spend it being stressed, depressed or unhappy. Most importantly, do what you makes you happy.

Baroba:
Dietary ketones is different from diabetic ketoacidosis, this has already been proven by medical science.. I wonder where OP got that from..Please do well to read Dr Jason Fung's The Obesity Code..

Intermittent fasting and a ketogenic diet is not only good for weight loss, it's also excellent for overall well being..

Thank you. This post never mentioned anything about dietary ketones. That's a different topic. Maybe you read wrong.
it only talked about ketoacidosis which could be as a result of different causes such as fasting, diabetes, starving.
I know you read wide, but don't misquote me!

asawanathegreat:
Ask Buhari

Answer for him

meobizy:

Exercise is 99% of fitness.
Diet is 1%.
I have seen people who exercise and eat ‘junk’ occasionally but are fitter than others who do the whole routine of exercise, diet and other fitness associated activities.
One focuses on diet only if they want a certain look or physique.
In reality, fit people come in different shapes and sizes just like the general population.

What are you talking about? That's simply because our metabolisms and genetics are different. What about people who never exercise and have 6 solid packs or people, who are slim all their lives no matter what they eat? and what about overweight people that have been exercising their whole lives?
Those are exceptions and genetics plays a big role in weight loss.
Weight loss is a complex topic with many factors causing it.
Ultimately you want a diet plan that fits your metabolism. Diet isn't only about limiting what you eat. It could be eating more. It depends on who you are and what goal you are trying to achieve.
Weight gain is simply because you eat more calories than you use. If you use more calories than you eat then eventually weight loss will occur.
That's why fitness models and bodybuilders eat up to 7 times a day. This is because they spend a lot of time working out.
To summarize, it's all about diet, exercise and[b] finding the right balance[/b].

Atikusbaby1:
purpose of fasting is not for losing weight

Thank you! we aren't talking about the religious significance of fasting here. That's a different topic.

khalids:


Thanks for this .....don't mind the OP.....talking what he knows nothing about..

I do 7days water fasting every month...and its been great.....

Lol, it's you who knows nothing about what you're talking about. You missed the point of the article. Ketogenic diets is another topic on its own which has nothing to do with fasting. I wonder if you even read the article. By the way, ketoacidosis has common pathogenesis with different causes including fasting, starving and diabetes.

meobizy:
The best activity to control weight is exercise.
I fast sometimes but treat it more as a supplementary routine.
There is nothing better than exercise.
All these other activities are just man trying to complicate a simple matter likely out of laziness.

True, exercise is important! Don't forget diet too. Fitness is 70% what you eat and 30% what you do.

Workout injuries can occur while you’re exercising at the gym, at home or at the park. While working out can be fun, it can also be risky if you don't know what you are doing or when you’re new to fitness.

As a Beginner, you need time for your body to adjust to working out. This is when it hurts and you feel like quitting. This is also when you are likely to make mistakes and hurt yourself leading to workout injuries. You need to know what you’re doing.

Working out isn’t that risky when compared to other sports like football, basketball, hiking, skiing, boxing and the likes. This doesn’t mean that you can’t hurt yourself. What it means is that workout injuries don’t occur as often as it does in other sport. This might be due to the high level of motion and contact that is required in these sports which aren’t that compulsory when working out. Usually, you don’t need to move from a point to another while lifting weights and you don’t have to come in contact with anybody. Some instances when you might need motion is Cardio exercises like running, cycling, walking e.t.c.

Common Workout Injuries include muscle pull or strain, sprained ankle, shoulder injuries, knee injuries, shin splints, tendinitis, wrist sprain or dislocation.

1. Muscle Pull/Strain
A muscle pull or commonly referred to as a muscle strain is damage or tear to a muscle and its attaching tendon.

This occurs as a result of undue pressure on muscles while lifting weights or doing other types of exercise.

There can be a bruise in the area of the muscle damages and pain as a result of irritation of the nerve endings in the area.

Common signs: Swelling, bruises or redness of the area of muscle pull/strain, pain, weakness of the muscle or tendons and inability to use the muscle at all.

Home care: If you feel like it’s nothing serious and you can handle it by yourself, that’s okay. Muscles pull/strains aren’t complicated and can be treated at home.

The swelling can be best managed by applying ice packs. Ice shouldn’t be applied to bare skin. A protective covering such as a towel should be used to apply the ice.
Maintain the strained muscle in a stretched position.
Protect the strained muscle from further injury. Avoid the activities that cause the strain or other activities that might hurt the strained muscle.
Immobilize the strained muscle by using an elastic bandage. This will compress the muscle, protect it and decrease swelling.
Elevate the injured area to decrease swelling.
If you think the muscle damage is significant, you can’t walk or feel severe pain, in this case, it’s better to see a doctor for better treatment.

2. Ligament Sprains
Mam with elastic bandage on his left leg can be seen sitting down. Common workout injuries, prevention and management.Sprain are damages to the ligaments. These are thick bands of cartilages that attach bones to bones e.g. the knee ligaments that connect the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone).

Sprains usually occur as a result of falling or the result of an outside force displacing the surrounding joint from its normal alignment.

The most common sprain while working out or exercising is the ankle sprain.

You could easily twist your ankle or fall down while exercising and this might tear the ligaments of your ankle causing an ankle sprain. This is also common in sports such as soccer, basketball and volleyball.

Common signs: joint stiffness, tenderness, swelling and redness, bruising, cold or numb feet.

Home care: Same as with muscle strains:

Apply ice packs to reduce swelling and pain
Immobilize the joint e.g. with an elastic bandage or check your local pharmacy for other types of joint immobilizers.
Protect the sprained joint from further injuries. Rest and restrict movement of the joint.
Elevate the injured area to decrease swelling.
Sprains and Strains usually are able to heal on their own but in cases, whereby you think it is severe, see a doctor.

3. Tendinitis
This is the inflammation or irritation of a tendon. A tendon is a strong piece of tissue in the body connecting a muscle to a bone.

Several physical activities including working out can cause tendinitis.

The most common places tendinitis occur in the body are; the base of the thumb, elbow, shoulder, hip, knee and Achilles tendon.

Common signs: Swelling, redness and pain at the site of the tendon and surrounding area, Loss of motion in the region affected.

Home care

Apply ice packs to reduce swelling
Rest the injured area
Avoid activities that will aggravate the situation
Take over the counter anti-inflammatory drugs or gels e.g. Ibuprofen
If the condition doesn’t improve in a week, see a doctor.

4. Shoulder Injuries
The shoulder joint is a very delicate and well-protected joint. It is the most mobile joint of the body. It’s also joint you’re likely to use the most if you’re doing fitness. Unfortunately once this joint is damaged one, there is a greater probability of recurrence.

Common shoulder injuries are Rotator Cuff Tendinitis and Dislocated Shoulder.

Rotator Cuff Tendinitis

This is the swelling of the rotator cuff tendon common in sports such as baseball, tennis and swimming. It’s also common in people who lift weights.

Common signs: Tenderness in the front of the shoulder or the midpoint of the arm. Pain and stiffness when lifting weights, weakness, difficulty and pain sleeping at night.

You can try using ice packs to reduce the swelling and over the counter anti-inflammatory drug such as Ibuprofen. Limit movement and try to immobilize the region.

If in one week, there is no improvement, see a doctor.

Dislocated Shoulder

This is when your upper arm bone pops out of its socket. The shoulder joint is susceptible to dislocation. Once this occurs, a recurrence is most likely to occur.

Common signs: Weakness, intense pain, numbness and tinging near the injury. Tenderness can be felt in front of the shoulder joint as the head of the humerus is obviously out of its socket, inability to move the joint.

Management: It is necessary to reduce a dislocated shoulder back to its normal position. This is known as a closed reduction. This can be done by someone who knows the technique to do this.

If not, immobilize, reduce movement, take over the counter pain killers and call an ambulance or go to a nearby hospital.

Surgery might be necessary in some cases. So in any case, see a doctor for proper treatment.

5. Shin Splints
This term refers to pain along the inner edge of the shinbone(tibia).

It is caused as a result of the inflammation of the muscles, tendons and bone tissue around the tibia.

They typically develop after physical activity and are commonly associated with running and people new to fitness.

Measures that can reduce the pain include;

Application of ice packs
Resting
Stretching
Over the counter pain killers
If the pain doesn’t go in a weeks time, it’s better to see your doctor to rule out other Shin problems.

6. Fractures
This is a situation whereby a bone or bones are broken. It rarely occurs while exercising. It can occur in the case of severe trauma.

Women that have reached menopause are usually more susceptible to fractures while exercising. Most women reach menopause between the ages of 45 and 55 but menopause may occur earlier or later. This is because of osteoporosis i.e. a disease that weakens the bone.

The lack of estrogen in menopause has been linked to osteoporosis as a result, making the bones become softer and easy to break. A minor fall or accident may lead to fracture.

A common fracture is a hip fracture.

Likewise, low testosterone has been proven to cause osteoporosis in men.

Also, senile osteoporosis is as a result of the decrease in calcium absorption as we age.

If you happen to be in any of this group, you should be careful when exercising to avoid fractures.

Common signs: Pain, deformity of the fractured area, bruising and swelling, budging out of the broken bone, tenderness and movement, loss of function, inability to bear weight on the affected part.

Management: In the case of fractures, it is best to see a doctor so that the correct diagnosis can be made and the best treatment administered.

Before then, you might want to immobilize the fracture, limit movement, rest and take over the counter pain killers such as Ibuprofen.

Safety Precautions for Prevention of Workout Injuries
Safety and prevention should be your priority while working out. They will protect you from workout injuries. Some simple rules to follow

1. Don’t work out when you’re exhausted. It’s always best to workout early in the morning when you are feeling refreshed and your brain is working at 100 % or during the day.
2. Don’t overwork your muscles. Have a workout plan.
3. It’s best to work out a group of muscles or part of the body in one day and the other parts in other days.
4. Don’t carry too much load than you can handle. Start small and Increase the weights over time.
5. Understand how your muscles work.
6. Eat something before workouts or immediately after workouts.
7. Drink enough water before, during and after your workouts.
8. Do stretching exercises before and after your workouts. This will prepare your muscles for the workouts and relax them after the workouts, preventing workout injuries.
9. Have a diet plan tailored to your goals. Your fitness is 70% of what you eat and 30% of what you do. Eat a balanced diet and enough fruits.
10. If you are new to fitness, you might want to have a fitness instructor to put you through at first, so you can avoid workout injuries.
11. If you feel pain or worn stop. Rest and try other exercises. If the pain continues to pay attention and try to identify the cause of the pain.

For more on fitness and health visit https://abcstrength.com

Fasting results in weight loss is a commonly held belief. You probably heard it or thought it to yourself “instead of diet, or exercise just fast and you will be fine”.
Well, while this might work in some instances, it might be detrimental to your health in other instances.

Firstly, You should understand your body’s metabolism before you embark on your fasting journey.
Secondly, You need to ask yourself what caused the extra weight gain? Is it as a result of your bad eating habits or bad lifestyle habits? If this is true, then your approach should be to correct these habits first.

In some people due to their metabolism and lifestyle choices, fasting simply won’t work. And it might be detrimental to their health.
So here you are trying to be fit and healthy and instead of doing the right thing, you’re simply hurting yourself.

In addition to hurting yourself, some people have certain conditions that aren’t compatible with fasting.
e.g. people with or that are prone to diabetes and ulcers should limit fasting and consult their doctors before fasting in order not to aggravate their health conditions further.

Besides, it might be difficult and punishing to tell an overweight or obese person to fast. Why? This is because of the hormone “Leptin” which increases the urge for food in the overweight and obese. The level of leptin is high in this group of people and sensitivity to this hormone is decreased. Usually, leptin should reduce the level of hunger and cause satiety but since sensitivity to it is decreased, the level of hunger and in-satiety increases.

How the Body Loses Weight When You Fast
The body has several ways of providing energy to keep it functioning. If one way stops working, then it relies on other ways. After eating food, the blood glucose level rises and this stimulates the release of insulin. Insulin helps push glucose into cells and store them as glycogen in the liver and muscles. When glycogen stores are filled up, excess glucose is converted to fats and they are stored in adipose tissues. This is how weight is gained.

A while after eating, the level of insulin goes down while that of glucagon and epinephrine goes up. The glycogen stores are broken down and glucose is released in the blood. Amino acids gotten from proteins are also released from skeletal muscles and fatty acids from adipose tissues.

In the case of Fasting, the levels of glucagon and epinephrine become very high. At this stage, glycogen stores are depleted and the break down of fats from adipose tissue occurs. This will result in weight loss.

While this might be good you think since fat break down will result in weight loss but it’s a little more complicated than that. When the fats are broken down for energy, a substance known as acetyl-CoA is released in excess and is used for ketone synthesis.

Increased ketone levels in the blood aren’t good. It can lead to ketoacidosis which as several negative effects on the body.

It is associated with symptoms such as; polyuria, dehydration, thirst, CNS depression, coma and may eventually lead to death. It has a characteristic strong ketone breath smell.

The Negative Effects of Fasting
1. Indulgence in Bad Eating Habit
There is a biological push to want to overeat after fasting. It’s a sort of compensatory mechanism your body crave for and a lot of people fall for this. This results in unwanted calories that cancel the effect of fasting and maybe dangerous since bad eating habits are addictive. So there is a likelihood you stick with these bad habits even when you aren’t fasting.

2. It’s easy to give up on
This weight loss technique is just too easy to quit compared to other techniques. It takes time to adapt to it. This is simply because the hunger hormone “ghrelin” is secreted when the stomach is empty and secretion stops when the stomach is stretched or after eating. This makes you more hungry when fasting as compared to when you aren’t.

3. Electrolyte imbalances
This might affect people with high blood pressure and heart diseases. Fasting results in an imbalance of homeostasis and important electrolytes that keep the body’s vital organs such as the heart and brain functioning properly. If you are in this category, You should consult your doctor before embarking on your fasting journey

4. The inability of the body to function properly
The body needs food to provide it with the energy it requires to function. When the body doesn’t get the appropriate energy it needs, you won’t have enough energy to carry out our normal daily activities resulting in unproductivity. Apart from that if the body doesn’t get the nutrients, it needs to function, it starts to malfunction e.g. Low immune response, slow healing etc.

5. Ketoacidosis
High ketone bodies which result from high fat breakdown will occur as a result of prolonged fasting. It is characterized by a distinct ketone smell, dehydration, thirst, dizziness, headache and may lead to coma and eventually death.

The Right Approach to Fasting
Fasting has benefits if it’s done right, suitable for you and your body metabolism. If it works for you, then at least you want to get it right.

The best technique for fasting is known as intermittent fasting. This is when you have your normal calorie intake for most days of the week and limit calorie intake during certain days of the week or during specific hours of the day.

This has been proven to work by a number of studies.

In research published in JAMA Internal Medicine, 100 overweight people were given one of three eating plans; restricting daily calorie intake by the same amount every day (similar to a traditional diet plan), fasting on alternate days, and continuing with normal eating habits. At the end of the 12-month study, both diet groups had lost weight compared with the normal eaters. However, the people on the fasting plan didn’t fare any better than those restricting daily calorie intake.

This proves that intermittent fasting works but not any better than dieting i.e. cutting caloric intake.

Alternatives to Fasting
There are several more efficient ways to lose weight apart from fasting.

1. Have a suitable diet plan for you: From the study above, fasting doesn’t work any better than dieting. Dieting might be preferred since the negative effects are reduced. Read how to make a diet plan here.

2. Exercise: If you are serious about losing weight, then you want to do some exercise. Your fitness is a combination of diet and exercise. You can simply start with fitness basics and you can advance from there. Make your own workout plan, choose which exercises are suitable for you. You can go to the gym or do at-home exercises.

3. Drink water more often: Water is vital for your health. Not only that, water helps you lose weight by reducing hunger. You want to drink water as often as possible. It’s recommended to take 8 cups of water per day.

4. Eat Fruits more often: Fruits are high in fibre, water, nutrients, vitamins and minerals, which are beneficial to health and weight loss. The fibre content of fruits helps digestion, fills up the stomach, reduces hunger, thereby reducing weight loss. It is recommended to eat two cups of fruit per day.

Conclusion
So as you can see, fasting isn’t the perfect solution to weight loss. If done well, in the case of intermittent fasting, it can be beneficial to health. If not, it can be detrimental to health.

Dieting is a better alternative to fasting because you get approximately the same result with less negative risk effect.

It is also important to note that we respond differently to fasting. Some people can tolerate fasting better than others while some can’t tolerate it at all. It’s best to understand your metabolism before deciding to fast or not.

Lastly, fasting is not advised or you should consult your doctor before fasting if you have certain conditions such as stomach ulcers, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart diseases.

https://abcstrength.com/does-fasting-help-you-lose-weight/

We are all bound to fail some points in our lives. No one, I repeat, no one ever lived without failing. Failure is inevitable. To live is to strive and fail until you achieve success.

If you aren’t failing from time to time, that means you are not seeking to become a better person and you’re not living up to your full potential.

We are enjoying the modern world today as a result of the failures of some people who didn’t give up and eventually achieve success.

Just Imagine your life today, without electricity, the internet, smartphones, TV. It’s almost unimaginable, right? That’s because some people failed and didn’t let their failure hold them back.

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill

5 Famous People Who Failed Before Succeeding

1. Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison is recognized as the greatest American inventor. He failed several times. When he was a kid, his teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything. He was fired from his first two jobs because he wasn’t productive enough. He failed over 10 000 times to invent a commercially viable electric light bulb. When asked if he felt like a failure after going through 10 000 failed attempts, he said: “I have not failed, I have just found 10 000 that won’t work.”

His inventions include the incandescent light bulb, phonograph, film, kinetoscope, the movie camera just to mention but a few.

2. J.K Rowling

J.K Rowling is considered to be the most successful female author in the UK. But, She didn’t start out this way. She failed her way to the top.

Her first idea of Harry Porter was in 1990 and she began writing. But, unfortunately, she lost her mom later that year.

She’d later move to Portugal where She got married, but after a year, the marriage ended in divorce. She moved back to the UK. At that time She was jobless, divorced and with a dependent child.

After writing Harry Porter, the book was rejected by all the 12 major publishers. It was later accepted by a small publishing house with only a few copies published.

Today the book has won several awards and has sold more than 400 million copies.

3. Henry Ford

Henry Ford was a famous entrepreneur and founded the Ford Motor Company. He revolutionized the transportation and automobile industry.

Achieving this wasn’t an easy task. He failed twice in the automobile industry before succeeding. His first company the Detroit Automobile Company went bankrupt and was eventually dissolved.

His Second Company, the Henry Ford Company, also failed, but he didn’t give up. However, it was his third attempt the Ford Motor Company that eventually succeeded.

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” — Henry Ford

4. Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. He is known for his numerous political loses before becoming the president.

He was born into poverty and had to suffer numerous failures.

In 1818, he lost his mother, failed in business in 1831, ran for state legislature and lost in 1832. He also lost his job that same year. In 1833, he tried the second time in business and failed again. A year later, he ran for state legislature again and won. In 1835, He was engaged but lost his wife-to-be. He had a total nervous breakdown in 1836 and was bed-ridden for six months.

In 1838 He sought to become the speaker of the state legislature but was defeated. In 1840 he sought to become elector but lost. He ran for Congress but lost in 1843. He won in 1846 but wasn’t renominated in 1848. In 1854 he ran for Senate of the United States but lost. 2 years later, he sought the Vice -Presidential nomination of his party but lost. In 1858 he ran for Senate again but lost. Eventually, in 1960, he won the presidential election and was elected president of the United States.

“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” — Abraham Lincoln

5. Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is an American media executive, actress, talk show host, television producer and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history.

Born into poverty to a teenage mother, she suffered child abuse at age 9, ran away from home at age 13 and became pregnant at 14 but lost her son shortly after birth.

She moved in with her Dad at the age of 14, who made sure she focused on school and later study at the university on full scholarship, majoring in communications.

She suffered a setback in television, she was called “unfit for television” before eventually making it big.

Oprah didn’t let her failures stop her and went ahead to become one of the richest self-made women in the world.

“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness” — Oprah Winfrey

THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF FAILURE

The Loser effect

Winners win and losers lose. This is true for winning, if you have a habit of winning, then you are more likely to win at a particular time and same is true for losing. This law holds true most of the time, what happens is that people who lose from time to time have lost enthusiasm, they have given up but just keep trying. They are just applying the law of probability; roll a dice many times and your number will eventually come up.

You don’t want to have this mindset. Don’t let failure to be a habit.

The difference between someone who keeps failing and someone who fails at an aspect of life but eventually succeed is that even though the latter is failing at a particular aspect, he’s winning at other aspects of life. The former on the other hand rarely wins, he is so used to failure and doesn’t expect success.

If you are in the former category and you keep failing in all aspects, that’s tougher to deal with than someone who’s just failing on an aspect and expects success eventually. You need a new mindset first, whereas if you’re in the latter category, you just need to persevere more and eventually you will succeed.

Depression, stress which can lead to other lows

Failure affects you psychologically and worse is even seeing others succeed. This is where negative emotions such as envy and jealousy come from. And there’s a reason some people are programmed to feel better when they see others fail.

If you don’t know how to cope with failure, have a winning mentality and eventually succeed, sooner or later you will fall into depression, be stressed out and give up. Others who didn’t give up will eventually succeed and this may even worsen your situation. On the long run, stress and depression will affect your health.

and you may fall ill or even start to use an addictive substance just to escape reality. So learning how to cope with failure isn’t just about succeeding but being a happier, healthier person and living your best life.

Low self-esteem

Failure is synonymous with low self-esteem and winning with high self-esteem.

This is bad as confidence is a key trait to winning. So people with low self-esteem fail even at trivial things and other aspects of life.

Most times we often think winners are proud, confident and losers are humble. These are stereotypes which most times are true. What’s the pride in losing? On the other hand, there is a lot of pride in winning. What you want is to have the winning spirit and still have your humility. That’s like icing on the cake.

YOUR ATTITUDE TO FAILURE

1. Surround yourself with winners

You are the average of the people you surround yourself with. It might be difficult to have winners has friends at first because winners also want winners as friends, not losers. So you have to start winning first and you will meet other winners who would want to be your friend.

If not, go it alone.

Believe me…
“It’s better to be alone than in bad company” — George Washington
Sometimes the best way to confront your fears is to face them alone.

I remember I used to suck with people. I was socially awkward. The reason I now understand was I spent a lot of time with people who had low self-esteem as well and I got it from them. Worse still were the people around me who just expected me to fail, even though I was smart.
It took me years to finally figure this out. I actively worked on being a better person. I would talk to strangers, go to unusual environments alone. Do things alone. I failed and failed again until I started succeeding. And even now when I fail, I know how to cope with it.

2. Have a winning mentality

A winning mindset is the belief that you can win too. If others are doing it then you can do it too. You just need to spend more time on it or learn that skill to a certain degree and you will eventually see success. The winning mindset is so crucial that it is the primary thing you need first if you want to succeed. Why is it so important? Well, even in a situation where you have a skill or you can do something, with doubts in your mind and lack of belief, you could still fail.

If you’re used to failing and self-doubt, I suggest that every time you wake up in the morning, look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself “I can do this, if others are winning, I can win too, I’m a winner”.

Self-affirmation is key to having a strong mindset.

3. Understand that it’s normal

Your failure is not a reflection of who you are. It’s just a result of an action. Don’t tag yourself a failure or let others tag you a failure. Tags are extremely dangerous. You live your tag. Once you are labelled a failure, you’re almost done. Avoid people who will make you feel like a failure. Avoid people who won’t be happy to see you succeed.

Failure is normal, successful people fail, maybe they don’t say it often but they do fail too.

4. Keep Going

Don’t ever give up on something you think is achievable just because you fail. Those great people didn’t give up and you shouldn’t too. Giving up is a sign of defeat. And the scariest part is if you’re used to giving up, it becomes a habit.

Find the energy within you, find your “why” Why have you decided to embark on this journey? The more difficult the battle is, the sweeter the victory.

5. Do a careful post mortem of the situation

What went wrong? what could you have done better? Ask yourself these questions first and then what can you change? Use these to set out a plan towards victory. This is your analysis of the situation that resulted in failure.
Winners do this when they fail. Since they are used to winning, failure is always devastating. They make the required changes and before you know it, they start winning again.

6. Actively work on being better

What can you improve on; your posture — start doing fitness, the way you talk — Improve your voice, the way you walk — copy role models and their way of walking, the way you dress — try dressing better, your looks — do makeup, lose weight, a skill — learn it, finances — learn a skill, get a job, start a business, talk to lots of people about your financial situation. So you see, there are so many aspects you can improve on.

It isn’t that easy and there are going to be challenges and failure on the part but I can guarantee you will see a positive improvement. There is no excuse to not living up to your full potential. All your fears have already been conquered someone somewhere. There is nothing new under the sun.

If you’re completely lost and don’t know where to start, just find a role model and copy the way they act and how they will think in a situation, This should make you better.

Conclusion
I can simply tell you “Don’t Give Up” but I’d be lying to you. That’s an empty phrase without substance.
The truth is we have all given up before on some aspects in our lives.
You should give up on people and bad habits that will draw you back.
You should give up on ventures that don’t seem productive and are deemed a failure.
Well, instead of not giving up, find the energy to keep going. Find a “Why” that will keep you motivated no matter the setbacks and failure. Simply telling yourself “I won’t give up” won’t work. You have to work to achieve this or else you will burn yourself out and eventually give up.

If your goal is not going as planned, change direction instead of the goal.
There’s is a famous saying: “There are several ways to skin a cat” meaning there are several ways to achieve the desired result.

https://abcstrength.com/how-to-cope-with-failure-and-succeed/

At-home workouts are suitable for people who want to be fit but live busy lives or for whatsoever reason can’t go to a gym.

If you find yourself in this category, at-home workouts are suitable for you.

My Story
Personally, at-home workouts are my favourite. This happened not by choice but by circumstance. As a medical student with a part-time job – you can only imagine how busy that life was. I had little time to spare for the gym. And I love fitness. I consider myself a fitness enthusiast.

Fitness is one of those things that changed my life. So imagine not being able to do what I love because of studies and my part-time work – not going to happen. So I dug deep and realized a way to get what I wanted – to be fit and still live my life. I started doing push-ups. At first, I did 20, then 30. I realized going upwards 40 made me tired and less productive the whole day so I stuck with 30. In no time, I developed a bigger chest.

Push-ups alone will give you a bigger chest and a nice posture. But the problem was this wasn’t proportional. So I had to do something. Then I got some at-home workout equipment. That was the piece that completed the puzzle for me. Ever since I’ve stuck with at-home workouts. I still plan to go to the gym when I’m less busy of course.

Do You Need to Go to a Gym?
When a lot of people think about fitness, they think “lifting weights in a gym”. Contrary to that, you don’t necessarily need to lift weights to be fit. If you know how the muscle grows, then you understand what I mean.

Not everyone has the time to go to a gym. The average adult has a job, goes to work, has a family, a tight schedule and other commitments with limited time to spare.

Exceptions are bodybuilding and bulking. If any of these is your goal, then at-home workouts are not for you. It seems that the majority of people are not into these though. Some people just want to be fit and healthy without bulking. If you find yourself in this category, at-home workouts are for you.

Benefits of At-home Workouts
1. They’re convenient. It can be done in the comfort of your home, at any time. You don’t need to dress up to go to a gym — which alone can discourage you from going to a gym. If you like you can work out in your pyjamas after waking up. There are no rules on what to wear and how to behave. It’s your home!

2. They’re cheap. You won’t be paying for a gym subscription or an instructor monthly. You are basically doing it yourself with your equipment. This saves a lot of costs and can help you slim down your budgets. Nothing is more discouraging in fitness than being unable to pay for a gym subscription. At-home workouts are here for you.

3. They’re reliable. You can always count on your at-home workout equipment. You can start with no equipment and upgrade later to some simple at-home workout equipment. You don’t have to play by the rules and timing of a gym.

4. They’re easy to do. There are techniques for lifting dumbbells and barbells. It isn’t easy to learn on your own. Most times you need a gym instructor when you’re just starting. You might hurt yourself if you don’t know how to use gym equipment. With at-home workouts, this is not so. You will rarely hurt yourself and they are easier to do.

5. Mobility is guaranteed. You can take your at-home workout equipment with you, in your suitcase or gym bag, wherever you go, to your place of work, on trips, to the park. This is a great advantage over weight training as it gives you the opportunity to be fit all year round no matter the situation — except you somehow find yourself in a situation where it’s impossible to do workouts.

Even though there are lots of benefits to these, at-home workouts have their disadvantages also
1. It takes longer than weight training to achieve your goal. You are going to need to persist more to reach your goal. On the average gym equipment give more resistance than anything you would be using at home, so results with them are quicker. At-home workout equipment varies, your results will depend on what you’re using and how effective they are.

2. It can be boring. A gym is a social place where you meet like-minds and since you’re working out at home usually by yourself with no one to talk with, you can get bored easily.

3. It’s not as effective as weight training. Truth is at-home workouts are not as effective as gym workouts or it might take a long time for you to develop the same result. If you just want to be fit and don’t really care about physique, this is for you. If physique is a priority, then I advise you to go to the gym and do weight training from time to time.

Conclusion
At-home workouts are suitable for you if you are too busy to go a gym. There are no excuses for fitness. They are convenient, cheap, reliable, easy to do and mobile.

You can start with no equipment like I did and get some simple equipment later on.

Even if you go to a gym, you can still supplement that with at-home workouts. This will not only quicken but also enhance your results.

Read the article here and more others on fitness and health https://abcstrength.com/

Overweight and Obesity are two conditions that are common in our world today. In fact, they never really became an issue until the end of the 20th century up till now. But what has caused the massive increase in overweight and obesity?

A lot of this is as a result of improvement in food technology. There are now lots of processed food than there has ever been. Lots of fast food companies are present today, and new ones are emerging.

Stress also plays a vital role. Nowadays, people are more stressed than ever.

If you want to lose weight and you’re serious about it, this is possible! A lot of people have gone from overweight and obesity to normal weight. You see this on social media and the news. There is no one-way method of losing weight but there are some basics you should know about “weight loss” that will help you lose some weight.

Overweight and obesity predisposes you to several health conditions due to the high percentage of body fat, high cholesterol — these conditions include, high blood pressure, heart diseases, diabetes, liver diseases, breathing problems to mention but a few. It makes you get tired easily and not as productive as you should be.

Also, it reduces your exercise tolerance rate.

All these will deteriorate your health, if not checked.

Causes of Overweight and Obesity
Several factors result in overweight and Obesity. Some are beyond your control while the others are as a result of your habits. The ones beyond your control include your metabolism, genetics, and environment while the ones as a result of your habits include eating too much, drinking and smoking, eating at night, eating too much sugar, stress, depression.

In addition to this, there is an increase in the hormone “leptin” in overweight and obese. This hormone normally should inhibit hunger but in the overweight and obese there is a decreased sensitivity to leptin — resulting in an inability to detect satiety despite high levels of leptin.

YOUR ATTITUDE
Don’t feel bad if you are in this category. So far you’re actively committed to losing weight. Even if you don’t eventually end up in normal weight, you’re fine.

A lot of overweight and obese people act in self-defence. They make all kinds of excuses for being overweight and obese — “I’m big boned”, “Who cares?”, “Don’t judge me” etc.

While this will make you feel good temporarily, you must know it won’t solve the problem and will only compound it.

First of all, you have to admit that you’re overweight or obese. How do you do this? By calculating your BMI.

To do this, divide your body mass in kg by your height in m² i.e. kg/m²

Normal is less than 25kg/m²

Overweight is 25 – 29kg/m²

Obesity is above or equals to 30kg/m²

Secondly, you have to work on losing weight… It’s as simple as that. Weight gain is the reason for overweight and obesity.

LOSING WEIGHT
Losing weight might seem daunting and frustrating. A lot of people simply give up. I know how difficult it is.

The truth is losing belly fat takes time — in some cases even years. But come to think of it, you didn’t gain the weight in a few days or weeks. It probably took months and years too. So why are you complaining?

Set a goal: Simply admitting and telling yourself you want to lose some weight won’t work. You need to have goals you plan to achieve. Make sure these goals are achievable and not unrealistic. If you don’t know where to start read here.

Set out to achieve your goal: Now that you have set a goal, you think that’s all? No. You need a plan. Your goal needs to be broken down into achievable pieces. You need a workout and diet plan.

Work, Work, work:
Are you new to fitness? Start with the basics(here)
Calculate the calories you eat (here)
Break your bad eating habits (here)
Have an addiction problem, break it (here)(here)
Drink water often (here)
We have enough articles on this site about specific habits and ways to be fit, to lose weight, so I won’t be going into details. They have been highlighted above. After all, that’s what we are committed to.

Check the post for the links https://abcstrength.com/overweight-and-obesity-to-normal-weight/

KEEPING IN SHAPE
Now you are working to lose weight, you have lost some weight, that’s great, you’re happy, but that’s not all.

You see, if you were once overweight or obese, there is a high tendency that after losing weight, you might still go back to being overweight and obese.

But why is that? This simply has to do with the way your body has been programmed. Your body wants to resist change, it’s used to being overweight and obese and wants to go back to that.

Remember the hormone “leptin”? which functions to reduce hunger but is now high and has lost its sensitivity. It doesn’t go back to its normal level, and your body still isn’t sensitive to it. This makes you want to eat more and go back to your old ways. It’s the body’s way of trying to protect you. It is used to you being obese and overweight.

So how do you prevent this? Seems like it’s a more mental process than physical so I suggest we use a mental approach.

Realize this is happening and why your body wants to resist change. By realizing this, you prepare yourself early and can be able to prevent it.
Resist the urge to go back to previous habits no matter what. You can do this by treating it as an addiction. Replace the urge with something else e.g. fitness, love, eating fruits, whatever that is healthy and works for you.

Stay true to your diet plan. You should have had a diet plan by now. If possible avoid people and places that will make you want to go back to previous habits. If you got your additional weights from going to certain places like the bar or restaurants, you want to avoid these places. Likewise, watch the people you surround yourself with. Are they influencing your health positively? You are the average of the people you surround yourself with.

Be persistent. You will be surprised at how many people will tell you “ Oh, you’ve lost some weight, hope you’re fine”. They are not hating on you. They are not just used to seeing you this way. It happens in all forms of success. Don’t let this break you but be a motivation.
Don’t give up. No matter how difficult it may seem, just keep going and you will see some results. Sometimes you will feel like quitting, sometimes, it will hurt. These are all part of the process. Like the famous Zig Ziglar said… “You don’t pay the price for success, you enjoy the price”.

Celebrate your success. No matter how little be happy about what you have been able to achieve. This will give you the motivation to set new goals and accomplish them.

Conclusion
Overweight and Obesity are difficult to get out from, but trust me, it is possible. A lot of people have done it and enjoy its benefits. So why not you? Don’t give up, Don’t break down, Don’t be angry, keep trying and working towards losing weight and I can guarantee that success will eventually be yours!

https://abcstrength.com/overweight-and-obesity-to-normal-weight/

dailynaijanews:
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It is important to have a diet plan if you want to get a particular result in fitness. That’s what this article will help you achieve.

Diet is very important to fitness. Fitness is 70 percent diet and 30 percent exercise.

Answer These Questions Before making of a Diet Plan

1. What is your goal?
What are you trying to achieve with this diet plan? You must have a goal. Read how to make fitness goals here.

An example of a goal is to lose weight. You must be specific. Say, to lose 10kgs/22lbs in 5 months.

2. What’s your budget?
How much do you plan to spend on a diet? This will vary from person to person and so will your diet plan. Cut your coat according to your size.

Don’t make plans you can’t achieve. There are so many ways to go about your diet that won’t cost you much.

3. Will your diet plan fit into your schedule?
If you live a very busy life, it might be impossible to cook all the time.

You might have to make changes like ordering food from specific restaurants, eating fruits as a snack at work and other ways to work out your diet plan. You want to limit bad eating habits as much as possible.

4. How many times do you eat in a day?
This also varies from person to person. Somebody might eat 3 times a day while others eat 7 times a day. Both people might get the same result or different. It depends on what each meal consists of and the number of their calories.

5. How many calories are you eating now?
Write down all the food you usually eat per day and calculate their calories. Some common food and the calories they contain have been listed below.

6. How many activities do you do in a day?
Is your job high activity or you just sit all day at work? How often do you exercise? Your level of activity determines the number of calories you burn.

If your job is high activity, you might require a higher calorie intake than someone whose job isn’t and vice versa.

Common food and the calories you get from it
The exact number of calories might vary. This is an approximate measure.

Apple, medium: 72
Bagel: 289
Banana, medium: 105
Beer (regular, 12 ounces): 153
Bread (one slice, wheat or white): 66
Butter (salted, 1 tablespoon): 102
Carrots (raw, 1 cup): 52
Cheddar cheese (1 slice): 113
Chicken breast (boneless, skinless, roasted, 3 ounces): 142
Chili with beans (canned, 1 cup): 287
Chocolate chip cookie (from packaged dough): 59
Coffee (regular, brewed from grounds, black): 2
Cola (12 ounces): 136
Corn (canned, sweet yellow whole kernel, drained, 1 cup): 180
Egg (large, scrambled): 102
Graham cracker (plain, honey, or cinnamon): 59
Granola bar (chewy, with raisins, 1.5-ounce bar): 193
Green beans (canned, drained, 1 cup): 40
Ground beef patty 193 (15 per cent fat, 4 ounces, pan-broiled):
Hot dog (beef and pork): 137
Ice cream (vanilla, 4 ounces): 145
Jelly doughnut: 289
Ketchup (1 tablespoon): 15
Milk (2 per cent milk fat, 8 ounces): 122
Mixed nuts (dry roasted, with peanuts, salted, 1 ounce): 168
Mustard, yellow (2 teaspoons): 6
Oatmeal (plain, cooked in water without salt, 1 cup): 147
Orange juice (frozen concentrate, made with water, 8 ounces): 112
Peanut butter (creamy, 2 tablespoons): 180
Pizza (pepperoni, regular crust, one slice): 298
Pork chop (centre rib, boneless, broiled, 3 ounces): 221
Potato, medium (baked, including skin): 161
Potato chips (plain, salted, 1 ounce): 155
Pretzels (hard, plain, salted, 1 ounce): 108
Raisins (1.5 ounces): 130
Ranch salad dressing (2 tablespoons): 146
Red wine (cabernet sauvignon, 5 ounces): 123
Rice (white, long grain, cooked, 1 cup): 205
Salsa (4 ounces): 35
Shrimp (cooked under moist heat, 3 ounces): 84
Spaghetti (cooked, enriched, without added salt, 1 cup): 221
Spaghetti sauce (marinara, ready to serve, 4 ounces): 92
Tuna (light, canned in water, drained, 3 ounces): 100
White wine (sauvignon blanc, 5 ounces): 121
Yellow cake with chocolate frosting (one piece): 243

Characteristics of a Good Diet Plan

1. The diet must be easily available
Your diet plan should contain only food that you know is readily available. This makes it easy to accomplish.

For example, if bread is easily available than oats for breakfast, then you go for bread in your diet plan.

And same for fruits too. If you live in an area where a particular fruit is common, then you want to go for that fruit.

2. It Should be balanced
You must endeavour to eat a balanced diet. Know that all nutrient are optimal — carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamin, mineral, fibre and water play a role in nutrition and one can’t be substituted for the other.

Proteins such as beans, eggs, meat, fish help our body grow. They are what makes your muscles bigger after a workout. About 12 to 20 per cent of your total daily caloric intake should come from proteins.

Carbohydrates such as bread rice, pasta, are the primary source of energy. About 50 to 60 per cent of your total daily caloric intake should come from carbohydrate.

Fats such as milk cheese cream, fatty cuts of meat, olive oil help the body store energy. About 30 per cent of your total daily caloric intake should come from proteins.

Fruits contain vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre which have several health benefits, ranging from fighting infections to helping you lose weight. Aim for two cups of fruit per day.

Water is very essential to health. You should definitely be drinking lots of water if you want to lose weight. It’s recommended to take 8 cups of water per day.


3. It must meet your goal
What’s your goal? If you’re trying to lose some weight, then your diet plan has to reflect this. The number of calories you consume must be less than the number of calories you spend. You can calculate the total number of calories by adding the sum of calories of each food or their approximate values.

In order to know the number of calories you spend, you must calculate the total metabolic rate. You can do this using the TDEE Calculator.

Making Your Diet Plan
It’s recommended that an average woman eats about 2000 calories per day to maintain, and 1500 calories to lose one pound of weight per week. An average man needs 2500 calories to maintain, and 2000 to lose one pound of weight per week.

Write everything you eat down or what you plan to eat. You must know the number of calories they contain or have an approximate value.

Once you’ve done this, you’re set.

Make sure they are balanced and in the right proportion.

For example, if your goal is to lose let’s say 10kgs/22lbs in 6 months, then you can aim for losing an average of 0.5kgs/1lb per week. A diet of 1000 to 1500 calories should get you there.

You can get this free 1000 calories diet plan for women here.

You can make a similar one for yourself or if you want a free ready-made diet plan then check here.

Conclusion
Diet plays a major role in fitness. This is very true if you want to lose weight. You have to make sure the total number of calories you eat must be less than the number of calories you spend.

Subtract the total number of calories you eat from the total metabolic rate. If the result is positive, then you’re doing it right. If it’s negative, you have to work more. You can spend more energy by doing cardio and strength training.

And lastly, don’t forget several factors contribute to weight loss and weight gain which include metabolism, genetics, ageing, diet, hormone regulation, and the impact of the environment on your lifestyle, including sleep, physical activity and stress.

Read the article here https://abcstrength.com/how-to-make-a-diet-plan/

This article is for people who haven’t been to a gym and newbies — people who have decided to be fit and just starting out. If you are a regular at a gym or you have been at some period in time, then you might skip this — or read on for some refreshment.

If you have decided to be fit, then you should consider going to a gym — where there are gym equipment to use for physical exercise.

In some instances, where you can’t sign up for a gym, you can still be fit by working out at home, at the park or where ever physical exercise and activity are possible.

Gym Equipment Basics
There is the traditional gym equipment like dumbbells and barbells and a lot of machines( I won’t be going into specific details in this article). You can find some at your local gym and try them out.

Machines are quite easier to use than the traditional gym equipment and if you are new to fitness, you might want to start with machines to keep you going.

What I’ll be talking about is what I call the traditional gym equipment. The ones you should know how to use.

The ones you can get and keep at home if you don’t have the time to go to the gym.

The traditional gym equipment is the workout equipment you expect to find in any gym without exception.

No doubts, there are modern equipment and new ones are developed every day.

You need to know this equipment and how to use them. Once you know the traditional ones, you realize the modern machines are just built to do the work they do more easily and efficiently.

Lack of knowledge of gym equipment and how to use them could lead to gym accidents.

Also, people in the gym expect you to know this – a gym is a social place where you meet other like minds. You don’t want to be the awkward or the weird one who doesn’t know what he/she is doing.

Traditional Gym Equipment
This can be divided into traditional strength training and cardio equipment.

Traditional Strength Training Equipment: Includes weight plates, barbells, dumbbells, cables, benches and racks.
Weight plate
A weight plate is a flat, heavy object, usually made of cast iron, that is used in combination with barbells or dumbbells to produce a bar with a desired total weight for the purpose of physical exercise.

They come in different size.

Gym equipment. A man standing next to a weight plate

Barbell
A barbell consists of a long bar usually with weight plates attached to its ends.

You can use barbells for exercises such as squatting, barbell chest press, barbell bicep curls, deadlifts, shoulder press.

Gym equipment. A man trying to lift a barbell with weights attaches to its end.

Dumbbell
Dumbbells have small bars with small weight plates attached to the end. They come in various forms and shapes and weights.

You can use them for exercises such as bicep curls, dumbbell shoulder press, rear delt raise, dumbbell chest press.

Gym equipment. Dumbbells of different sizes and shapes in a gym.

Cable Machine
A cable machine is a device for weight training. It consists of a rectangular, vertically oriented steel frame about 3 metres wide and 2 metres high, with a weight stack attached via a cable and pulley system to one or more handles.

The cables that connect the handles to the weight stacks run through adjustable pulleys that can be fixed at any height.

You can do exercises such as cable curl, triceps rope pulldowns with a gym cable.

Gym equipment. Man shirtless, doing cable triceps extension.

Gym Bench
A gym bench is for sitting or lying down while doing exercises. Several exercises require a gym bench. Examples are bench press, shoulder press (sitting), bench dips.

Gym equipment. Man sitting on a gym bench holding barbell weights, about to do some exercise.

Power rack
This is a piece of weight training equipment that functions as a mechanical spotter for free weight barbell. It aids in doing exercises such as squats and bench press.

Gym equipment. A photo of a Power rack.

Traditional Cardio Equipment: Includes treadmills, stationary bicycles and stair climbers.
Treadmills
A Treadmill is a device for walking and running while staying in the same place.

Back view of sports people on running track. Two attractive young women and handsome muscular man are running in gym. Gym equipment.

Stationary bicycle
A stationary bicycle or an exercise bicycle, an exercise bike is a device for cycling. It’s in the form of a bicycle but stationary.

Gym equipment. A photo of an exercise bike.

Stair Climbers
This is device is designed to give the impression for climbing stairs.

Gym equipment. A photo of a stair climber.


Conclusion

There are many gym equipment and machines that are in a modern gym today. If you know how to use modern machines, great. If not, no problem.

Majority of people prefer to use the traditional gym equipment. These worked back in the days and continue to work even today.
For pictures on this post visit https://abcstrength.com/gym-equipment-you-should-know/

New Year is a time of great pleasure and celebration. We often spend it with our loved ones and families. This is a unique time of the year.

This is also the time people make pledges and goals on what they want to commit the new year too — New year resolution.


WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE A NEW YEAR FITNESS RESOLUTION
Since it’s a new year and you’re making new year resolutions, this is the best time to write down a new year fitness resolution. You can use the whole year as a scale to determine your progress.

Over the course of 365 days, what are you able to achieve. You can break this down to months and weeks and keep a record.

Also, this will help you in future goal setting. It’s also a very good habit to develop as it will motivate you to set out and accomplish other tasks.

As you may know, health is wealth. It is only when you are healthy you can accomplish your goals. This should be the core where you surround other goals around.

WHY PEOPLE BREAK THEIR NEW YEAR RESOLUTION
A lot of people break their resolutions in a few weeks into the new year. According to U.S. News, approximately 80% of resolutions fail by the second week of February. That’s unbelievably high. But why do people break their new year resolutions so early?

It seems the answer lies in the resolution itself. A lot of people make unrealistic resolutions. For example, say you weigh 120kgs/265pounds and you want to lose 70kgs/154pounds by the end of the year. This is a very difficult and almost unrealistic goal to achieve in that time frame.

Poor health is another reason why most people can’t achieve their goals. If you’re healthy, it almost impossible to achieve anything.

Another one is lack of focus and dedication. Accomplishing a goal requires focus and dedication.

It seems most people aren’t just dedicated enough to achieve their goals.

There are so many other reasons why people can’t achieve their goals. These reasons are subjective and you have to answer this for yourself.

But remember, no excuses are genuine.

“Excuses are tools of the incompetent, used to build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness” — Barack Obama.

HOW TO ACHIEVE YOUR NEW YEAR FITNESS RESOLUTION
Keep it simple[color=#000099][/color]
When you make your new year fitness resolution, keep it simple. Don’t make resolutions that are overboard or impossible to achieve.

You may be tempted to make big resolutions — know that the majority of these big goals are doomed for failure.

Making a resolution simple also keeps the brain at ease and makes it fun.

It’s okay to carry your goal over to the next year if its impossible to achieve in a single year – so far progress is made. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Break it down
Making you’re a new year fitness resolution simply isn’t enough. It’s necessary to break them down. It’s easier to say “I want to do 20 push-ups in a day” than it is to say “I want to do 140 push-ups in a week”. 140 is a big number compared to 20.

Furthermore, this discourages your mind as it sees the process to be tedious – making you unmotivated to even do any push-ups. It is also easier to say you want to drink a glass of water every morning than it’s to say you want to drink a glass of water often.


. This helps you to break your them down into small achievable pieces.

Make it as realistic as possible
Your new year fitness resolution must be realistic. If you have a 9-to-5 job and say you want to go to the gym 5 times a week – that’s possible but a difficult goal to achieve.

A more realistic goal will be to wake up every morning and do 20 push-ups or whatever exercise you want to do.

When setting realistic goals, put into consideration your environment, work, studies, finances and other obligations.

Believe in it
You have to believe in your goal that you have set and most importantly you have to believe that you can achieve them. No dream is impossible with the right factors in place –finance, willpower etc and if you do the right thing.

Keep believing and you will overcome any obstacle that comes your way.

Break bad habits
What bad habits are preventing you from achieving your goal? Is it eating at night? Eating junk food? Drinking too much?

Whatever it is, you must cut it off if you want to achieve your goal. Bad habits are stumbling blocks that prevent you from achieving goals.

In the extreme cases of addictions, you must learn how to break them.

Make exceptions
In life, not are rules are static – there are exceptions to some. Your fitness goals should be flexible. Instead of making excuses, make exceptions.

Exceptions are good because it tells your mind you are still committed to your goal while in this situation it’s not possible to follow the plan.

Exceptions are situational while excuses are unexpected. People make excuses to defend their inability to do what they are supposed to do –

For example, saying you won’t eat junk food except on Wednesdays because you work the whole day. This is justifiable because there is no way you can cook on Wednesdays because you are busy throughout.

Work, work, work
Having a resolution isn’t enough. You have to work hard towards achieving your goal.

In fact, it’s better not to have a resolution and achieve something worthwhile than to have one and not achieve anything.

In addition, your new year fitness resolution must be your guide, inspiration and motivation that will lead you to achieve your fitness goals.

Examples of new year fitness resolutions
Saying I will:

Do no less than 10 push-ups at least four times per week.
Do (according to your workout plan) 2 sets of 10 bicep curls every Monday etc.
Go jogging every weekend for 30 minutes.
Won’t eat junk food except on Mondays because I work the whole day.
Will drink a glass of water in the morning immediately after waking up.
In conclusion, these are just examples that have been broken down, simple and realistic. You should have a bigger picture in mind.

The bigger picture will be what you want to achieve by the end of the year.

For example, you want to lose 100 pounds/45kgs by the end of the year.

Lastly, track your goals. Are you getting results? If yes that’s great. If not, in what areas can you improve? what can you change?

These are questions you have to answer along the way of reaching your goals. At the end of the year, check your result. Did you meet your goals? This will help in future goal setting.

To a year full hopeful of great expectations and accomplishments, Happy New Year!!!

For more articles on fitness and health, visit www.abcstrength.com

HOW TO PREVENT STRESS

Knowing how to deal with stress is simply not enough. It’s necessary to avoid being stressed easily. Ways you can prevent it are:

1. Avoid toxic relationships
You are the average of the people you surround yourself with. If you are with people that get stressed often or put a lot of pressure on sure, you’re like to be stressed. There are so many cool, light spirited people around than to be around negative people. Find them, and make them your friend.

2. Be Fit

Fitness helps you to be both physically and mentally strong. It makes you not only to be able to prevent stress but also to handle it. Also doing exercise releases “feel good” hormones such as dopamine and endorphins that will make you relaxed and elate your mood. Read why you need to be fit. If you don’t know where to start from, read fitness basics here.

3. Good Nutrition
Nutrition apart from providing energy also has so many benefits, like preventing and fighting infections, As you may know, fitness is 70% diet and 30% nutrition. Eating junks must be limited at all cost.

4. Learn to relax
No matter how busy you are, always find some time for relaxation. Remember health is wealth. It’s only when you are healthy you can do the things you love doing. So, make your health priority.

Go on vacations, visit friends, listen to music, go to outings, dates, do whatever that makes you happy.

5. Go at your own pace
You shouldn’t see life as a rat race. Most people that compete usually get frustrated. Try to go at your pace, no matter how slow. Remember the saying “slow and steady wins the pace”. This doesn’t mean you should be slow but rather to go at your own pace. Your slow might be another person’s fast and vice versa. A lot of depression and unfortunately suicide come as a result of people thinking they are not doing better or they aren’t where they are supposed to be. Be wise.

4. Get enough sleep
Sleep is very essential to your health. Inadequate sleep can cause irritability and stress, while healthy sleep can enhance well-being. It’s recommended to get a minimum of 8hours of sleep per day. Sleeping helps to create a balance in homeostasis. So good sleep could be a remedy for stress.

5. Deal with Addictions
Having an addiction will definitely get you stressed in the absence of the stimuli. This is known as the withdrawal effect. This is why drug addicts are usually anxious and are only able to relax after the use of the substance.

Some drugs e.g. heroine can have withdrawal effects up to a week. It’s best not to start using drugs. In case of an addiction, you can learn how to break free from it here.

6. Do what works for you
We all have a way of combating stress. For some it’s smoking a cigarette, for others, it might be drinking a glass of red wine or taking a cold shower. The point is to do what works for you while keeping in mind the negative effects of whatever you do. You should very well know the consequences of your actions.

If you think you have an addiction based on what you do to combat stress, that’s another problem on its own with a different solution. For example, smoking too much as a result of stress. In this case, you need to learn to break the addiction while also trying to reduce stress.

I suggest you see a doctor or talk to a professional about it — you might be dealing with chronic stress.

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF STRESS
Recent research suggests that stress accounts for more than 70 per cent of illness.

“The morbidity and mortality due to stress-related illness are alarming. Emotional stress is a major contributing factor to the six leading causes of death in the United States: cancer, coronary heart disease, accidental injuries, respiratory disorders, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide. According to statistics from Meridian Stress Management Consultancy in the U.K, almost 180,000 people in the U.K die each year from some form of stress-related illness. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States estimates that stress account about 75% of all doctors visits. This involves an extremely wide span of physical complaints including, but not limited to a headache, back pain, heart problems, upset stomach, stomach ulcer, sleep problems, tiredness and accidents. According to Occupational Health and Safety news and the National Council on the compensation of insurance, up to 90% of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related complaints.”

Some Organs Affected by Stress

Immune System
The immune system helps the body to fight and prevent the body against infections. We come in contact with so many harmful microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites and it is the function of the immune system to discover these harmful microorganisms and kill them.

Several studies have shown that chronic stress suppresses the body’s immune system, making them unable to function efficiently. This will make you get sick in instances your immune system should have protected you.

Think of how easy it is to get the Flu when you are stressed vs when you aren’t.

Cardiovascular system
Studies have shown that psychological stress is a strong risk factor for heart diseases and deaths that occur as a result of this. A positive relationship between life stress, cardiac infarction and sudden death was discovered.

The INTERHEART study revealed that people with myocardial infarction reported a higher prevalence of four stress factors: stress at work and at home, financial stress and major life events in the past year.

Gastrointestinal system
Gastrointestinal diseases such as peptic ulcer and ulcerative colitis are greatly influenced by stress. Peptic ulcer was found to be higher in people who work in high-stress jobs compared to those who work in low-stress jobs.

Studies have shown that it increases stomach acid – which is what causes ulcers.

Psychiatric illnesses
The relationship between stress and psychiatric illness is stronger than in other illnesses.

In studies employing the general population controls, there has been a consistent indication of the risk of increase of psychiatric illness in the 6 months after a life event.
Risks are greater for the more stressful types of events, greater for depression and neuroses than schizophrenia, and even greater for suicide attempts. Events must interact with a wide variety of background factors, and the appropriate model is one of multifactorial causation.

Cancer
Cancers occur as a result of several risk factors. A few studies of women with breast cancer have shown a significantly high rate of disease among those women who experienced traumatic life events and loses within several years before their diagnosis.

Cancers develop for many years and are diagnosed only after a long time. So the loss of a dear one or a traumatic experience might not be the underlying course but it triggers the other risk factors and speeds up the progression of cancer.

Read more https://abcstrength.com/managing-stress/

Bad eating habits are not optimal for your health. The body doesn’t get the nutrient it needs from it or doesn’t get it in the right proportion.
We have all indulged in a bad eating habit at some points in our lives. The point is not making them a habit.

It’s okay to have cheat days — to eat junks, drink a glass of wine, eat late at night once in a while. Having stringent rules won’t help and may result in you burning yourself out.

As humans, we are programmed to be against anything that doesn’t offer us freedom. Too much freedom isn’t good either, but enough to make our lives pleasurable.
Some habits lead to bad nutrition which will have negative effects on our health in the long run. These habits are not encouraged and must be avoided whenever possible.

If you want to be fit and enjoy its benefits then its best to steer clear of bad habits and commit to fitness. As you may know, fitness is 70 % diet and 30 % exercise.

It’s surprising how bad eating habits never became a major problem until recently — the 21st century. The rate of overweight and obesity are alarmingly high.

A lot of this is as a result of improvement in food technology. There are now a lot of processed foods than there has ever been. Lots of fast food companies are present today, and new ones are emerging.

These effects can be seen today — overweight and obesity are at the highest, Worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975.

HABITS THAT WILL RESULT IN BAD EATING HABITS

1. Eating Junk food
This is pre-prepared or packaged food that has low nutritional value.
This is what you get when you eat from fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King etc.
The excess fat, simple carbohydrates and processed sugar found in junk food contribute to increased risk of health disorders such as obesity and heart diseased.

2. Eating Unbalanced diet
Eating carbs, proteins and fats in the wrong proportion. An example is eating junk food or a favourite meal you can’t do without while neglecting the other components of a balanced diet.
Eating too many carbs and less protein can result in obesity, heart diseases, infections – since proteins help the body to fight infections.

3. Eating snacks
This might lead to poor food choices and adding unwanted calories.
Don’t wonder where the extra weight comes from if you’re used to eating snacks. There are exceptions – days when you can’t cook, make breakfast etc. Exceptions are exceptions, not just a result of your cravings.

4. Drinking sugary drinks often
Sugary drinks aren’t good for your health. You should try substituting them for water which has several health benefits.
Studies have shown a correlation between drinking sugary drinks and obesity, diabetes and other medical problems. In addition to this, soft drinks intake of milk, calcium and other nutrients.

5. Eating at night
Remember the body follows the circadian rhythm – a natural, internal system that’s designed to regulate feelings of sleepiness and wakefulness over a 24-hour period.
So when you should be sleeping food won’t be easily digested as when you should be awake. Also at night you won’t be burning calories compared to during the day. This is one of the easiest ways to lose weight.

6. Alcoholism
Not surprising that there is a high frequency of obesity, diabetes, heart diseases in alcoholics. One gram of alcohol gives 7 Calories.
That’s higher than what you get from carbohydrate and protein. In fact, studies have found out that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. If you are addicted to alcohol, read about how to break free from addiction here.

HABITS THAT WILL IMPROVE YOUR NUTRITION

1. Cook your own food 
It’s as simple as that. Cooking your own food is cheaper, safer, healthier and you can calculate the calories you consume yourself — make sure it’s in line with the goal you want to achieve.
It might take a lot of time at first, with time you will get used to this. If you are too busy and don’t have time for this, then you might want to take the second advice.

2. Order food from a specific restaurant that calculates the calories 
If you lead a busy life and don’t just have the time to cook your food, you can consider ordering food from a restaurant which takes fitness into consideration and calculates the calories in the food you order. An example of this restaurant are Munchery, Sun Basket, Home Chef. Find one in your local area that is your taste.

3. Remove Junks from the house 
If you get into the habit of eating junks a lot or you eat at night — then you shouldn’t have these stuff in the house. This is the easiest way of avoiding the temptation to eat junks. Don’t let them be in proximity to you.

4. Set a fitness goal and a prize if you achieve that goal
This is an efficient way of keeping good habits — rewarding yourself if you’re able to keep it. For example, if you set the goal of not eating the whole month and you achieve this goal, you can reward yourself by going to see a movie, buying yourself a present, having a cheat meal — or just doing whatever you think is worth rewarding yourself with.

5. Have a cheat day 
A cheat day is a day you’ve decided to break your rule and have a cheat meal. For example telling yourself you will eat pizza, ice cream or whatever that doesn’t fit in your usual meal Sunday evenings. This works in the sense that your brain doesn’t see your rules as too stringent and burn you out. Remember as humans we don’t like anything that restricts our freedom.
I personally don’t have a cheat day but whenever I crave junk food so bad I can’t control myself. I declare that day to be a cheat day. Since this doesn’t happen often, I don’t see it as a problem and it works for me. If it will work for you, then you can try this.
If you have too stringent rules and you break them once, this might be a catalyst to further break them. That’s why having a cheat meal/day works.

6. Stay Positive, Be Happy
Avoid stress, do things that make you happy. Negative emotions such as boredom, loneliness, depression can lead to bad eating habits and lack of motivation to cook your own meals. Learn how to be genuinely happy here.

7. Be fit 
You rarely see fit people with bad eating habits — not that they don’t indulge in bad eating habits but when you compare with people that are not fit, it’s significantly lower. This is because being fit helps to reduce stress and improves your mood — one of the causes of poor nutrition. Also being fit makes you fall in love with your body and do anything that will alter it. And don’t forget the hormone “leptin”. It’s in normal level in fit people — and helps prevent weight gain by suppressing appetite until weight loss.
If you are not fit yet, you can begin your journey here.

Conclusion
We have discussed some bad eating habits and the effects they have on our health. Remember no matter how much workouts you do, you won’t get the desired result without the right nutrition.
Think about workouts as the piece that completes the fitness puzzle.
Some habits to help improve your nutrition have also been discussed. There are others of course that you should also pay attention to.

https://abcstrength.com/break-bad-eating-habits

For more articles on fitness and health, visit www.abcstrength.com

You might want to read the full article here https://abcstrength.com/managing-stress/

Stress is the disruption of the normal functioning of the body. It might be through a physical or psychological stimulus.

No doubts, everyone has been stressed at some point in their lives. Life itself is stressful.

To live means to strive. In today’s world with the fast cars, the fast life, the rat race and the system — go to school, pass exams, get a job, pay taxes, get married, get kids, get a pension — stress is unavoidable. It’s necessary to know how to handle stress.

Stress can be differentiated into Eustress and Distress. This is according to a model published by Richard Lazarus in 1974.

Eustress is when it enhances function — physical or mental work such as strength training. Distress, on the other hand, is not resolved through coping or adaptation. It may lead to anxiety, withdrawal and illnesses.

WHAT CAUSES STRESS
Stress is a response to a stimulus. Both negative and positive factors can lead to stress. Lack of money is a negative factor that can lead to stress. While performing at a high level is a positive factor that can lead to stress. Causes include:

Life events – births and deaths, marriage and divorce.

Responsibilities – lack of money, unemployment.

Work/Study – exams, project deadlines.

Personal relationships – conflicts, deception.

Lifestyle – heavy drinking, drug use, insufficient sleep.

Early life exposure – child abuse.

Environment – food, housing, health, freedom or mobility.

Hans Selye found out that all animals produce similar sets of reactions when exposed to stressors known as the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). It consists of three stages:
1. Alarm stage. This is the first stage when a stressor is identified. During this stage hormones such as adrenaline which activates the fight or flight response and cortisol, the stress hormone are produced. This is the stage you feel anxiety.

2. Resistance stage. In case the stressor persists, the body tries to adapt to it. Hormones, adrenaline and cortisol are still being released. The body cannot keep up with this for long and after a while, resources are gradually being depleted.

3. Exhaustion stage. All body resources are eventually depleted and the body can no longer keep up with the stressor. Initial symptoms of sweating and increased heart rate develops. If the stress is extended, long-term damage may develop. The result may manifest ulcers, depression, heart diseases, mental disorders.

WHAT TO DO WHEN STRESSED

It’s true that some people can deal with stress more than others. A part of it might be due to genetics. Apart also is due to training — the reason why soldiers can handle stress better. It’s necessary to train yourself to work under pressure if you want to be a high achiever.

When stressed
Take a deep breath – taking a deep breath detoxifies, de-stress, calms and keeps you in control. Shallow breathing is linked to stress and anxiety.
Control your emotions – sometimes you may not be able to do anything about a situation but you can determine how you feel and react to it. Don’t go wild or overboard with your emotions. People do crazy things when they are not in control. You don’t want that to be you.
Understand the situation – one of the reasons for being stressed is not understanding the situation. You rarely see experts and professionals stress over what they do. They’ve understood their professions to a level it just becomes a routine. Try to understand a situation and get better at it.
Drink water – Studies have shown that dehydration leads to higher cortisol levels — the stress hormone. Drinking water has several health benefits.
Talk to someone about it – Talk to someone — especially a loved one or an expert. They will help you understand the situation better and come up with a possible solution.

Read the article here https://abcstrength.com/workout-plan/


Before making your workout plan and routine, there should be a clear goal of what you want to achieve, why have you decided to be fit? This you need to answer before making a plan and routine. This is because the workouts you do must be coherent with the goal you have in mind.
For example, if you’re planning to lose weight, then your plan and routine should include lots of Cardio to help your metabolism and burn calories.

Most workouts you will do will have to deal with specific muscles or group of muscles. Read the main muscles for workouts here.
You need a workout plan and routine whether you choose to workout at the gym or at home -- whichever one is convenient for you.

What Your Workout Plan and Routine Should Look Like
When doing fitness, the last thing we want is to burn out or run out of ideas. Fitness is a continuous process.
First of all, you need to know how many days in a week you want to work out. Most fitness models and bodybuilders workout at least 5 days a week. If you are reading this article, you simply might not be able to work out this much. This is understandable as we all lead a busy life.
For me, 4 is optimal. For you, it might be 3 times a week. I would say if you workout not less than twice a week then you’re still safe.
Next, you need to know how long you want your workout sessions to be on the average. Can you go 2 hours a day? one hour, 45 minutes, 30 minutes. If not less than 30 min, I think you’re fine. When considering the lengths of your workouts, you need to also put into consideration the number of days you workout in a week. For example, say you plan to workout 4 days a week, 30 min each day or 2 days, 2 hours each day. Both are okay. You need to plan this according to your schedule and make sure you are able to do this and it doesn’t burn you out.
Next, what are you going to do during your workouts and on what days are you going to do them? You need to know simple definitions like;
Reps(repetitions) and Sets if you don’t know them.

Rep(s):- is one complete motion of an exercise. Several complete motions make reps. It's short for repetition.

Set(s):- is a group of consecutive repetitions. Reps make a set. This number is not specific but varies depending on your choice.

For example, 2 sets of 10 reps of bicep curls mean 10 bicep curls, rest and another 10 bicep curls. If this is your plan for the day, then you can say you have successfully worked out your biceps.
You shouldn’t work out all the muscles of the body in one day. This is won’t be productive.
The productive way to go about is to work out a muscle or group of muscles in one day, rest (period till the next workout). This allows your muscles to heal and working the next group of muscles the next workout day will be more efficient. Also, this prevents you from burning out.

Example of a Workout Routine

Monday:  Cardio, Chest and Biceps
Wednesday: Shoulders (Delts), triceps and Core (abs and lower back)
Friday: Cardio, Push-ups and Back
Sunday: Gluts, hamstrings, and Leg

Or

Monday: Cardio, Chest, Biceps and Shoulders (Delts)
Wednesday: Triceps, Core (abs and lower back) and Back
Saturday: Gluts and Leg
Example of a Workout Plan

Monday
Cardio: Running on thread mill or outside, I set, 20 min.
Biceps: Dumbbell biceps curl 3 sets of 10 reps, Barbell biceps curl 3 sets of 10 reps, Standing cable curl 2 sets of 10 reps.
Chest: Barbell bench press 3 sets of 10 reps, Dumbbell bench press 3 sets of 10 reps, Chest Dips 2 sets of 10 reps, Pushups 1 set 20 reps.

Wednesday
Shoulders: Barbell shoulder press (standing) 3 sets of 10 reps, Dumbbell shoulder press (sitting) 2 sets of 10 reps, Rear delt raise (standing) 2 sets of 10 reps, Arnold dumbbell press 2 sets of 10 reps.
Triceps: Dumbbell overhead triceps extension 3 sets of 10 reps, Triceps rope pulldowns 3 sets of 10 reps, Bench dips 2 sets of 10 reps.
Core (Abs and Lower back): Sit-ups 3 sets of 10 reps, Bicycle crunches 3 sets of 10 reps, Deadlifts 2 sets of 5 reps.

Friday
Cardio:  Walking/Running/Swimming/Cycling 1 set, 30 min
Back: Bent over barbell roll  3 sets of 5 reps,  One-Arm dumbbell row 3 sets of 8 reps, Wide-grip pull-Up 2 sets of 8-10 reps, Standing t-bar row 1 set of 10 reps
Sunday
Gluts: Squats 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Hamstrings: Deadlifts 2 sets of 8-10 reps
Legs: Leg press 3 sets of 8-15 reps, Lying leg curl 2 sets of 10 reps, Leg extensions 3 sets of 10 reps, Standing calf raises 3 sets of 10 reps.
These are examples. You should set your routine and plan according to your convenience, taste and weight bearing capacity. But, the format should be the same.

10 Workout Tips

1. Workout specific groups of muscles in one day. Don't try to do all your workouts in one day. This is not productive, Instead spread your whole body workout over the course of the week. An illustration has been described above. Our muscles need time to rest, and it is during the resting period it grows and reorganizes itself.

2. Don’t burn yourself out. Try not to burn yourself out. Change your workout techniques often, change your work out days, take it easy on yourself, learn new workout techniques, get a workout partner, listen to music while working out. These are some ways you can prevent yourself from burning out. Your workouts should be fun too.

3. Dedicate a day to Gluts and Legs. Called the leg day, this is usually the last workout day of the week. This is because the muscles of the legs are tedious to workout and become very sore after a workout. This also allows your leg muscles to heal and grow before the next workout.

4. Workout a muscle for at least 15 minutes. Take time to do your workouts. Spending too little time on working a muscle e.g. the biceps might not be productive. Do several reps and sets with different workout techniques for a muscle. 

5. Choose your weights accordingly. Too light and too heavy are not recommended. Too heavy might damage your muscles. Best way to know which weight to start with is to gauge yourself. With time you can increase the weights.

6. Rest after each rep and set. Don’t rest too much or too little between reps and sets. The amount of time you should rest between reps and sets should depend on your fitness goal. Optimal is between 1 to 3 minutes.

7. Push yourself to the limit. Always try to outwork your planned workout without going overboard. Believe you can do better. This will help you not only to reach your fitness goal but also will motivate you.

8. Don’t do a workout if you don’t know what you’re doing. There are several resources you can find on workouts. You can improvise new workouts later on when you’re an expert but when starting out, it’s better you know what you’re doing. Use the machines if you know how to use them over the traditional dumbbells and barbells and vice versa if you know how to use the traditional dumbbells and barbells. This is also true for home workouts.

9. Drink enough water. Stay hydrated. Drinking water has several benefits and it's a must when doing fitness. Dehydration can make you dizzy, nauseous or even faint. Drinking at least 8 cups of water daily is recommended.

10. Eat before and after a workout. Your muscles need nutrients and energy to work and grow. Doing fitness on an empty stomach isn't optimal. At the very least eat some fruits or a light meal before workouts. You will usually be hungry after a workout -- you just burned calories. So, make plans for this as well. Benefits of eating fruits can't be overemphasized.

In conclusion, making a workout plan and routine should be easy and not complicated. Most importantly you should plan what workouts you are going to do and on what day you are going to do them. Now go ahead and make one for yourself.
Specific workouts will be discussed in upcoming fitness articles.
Until then, Stay Fit!

For more articles on fitness and health visit www.abcstrength.com

Read the article here https://abcstrength.com/health-is-wealth/

“Health is wealth” is one of the popular sayings almost everyone is familiar with.

A lot of people think health is wealth simply means its cheaper to be healthy and not have to pay for health care or to be sick is costly. This is true but there is more to it.

According to WHO, Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. While wealth is an abundance of valuable possessions or money.

So how are the two related? That’s the purpose of this article.

FACTORS THAT DETERMINE HEALTH
Several factors determine the overall health of an individual and communities. It’s necessary to understand health if we want to know the effect it has on wealth and vice versa.

1. Environment
Environment plays a key role in the health of a person. It is believed that we are the products of our environments. We can’t necessarily control this but we can control those we choose to surround ourselves with and what impacts us.

Also, some diseases are peculiar to certain environments. For example, the Flu is common in cold climate during winter seasons whereas malaria is common in tropical climates. Heart diseases and psychological disorders are more common in the developed countries whereas it is not so in the developing and underdeveloped countries.

Your environment will also determine your access to health care — if it is readily available or not, cost and its quality.

2. Genetics
These are traits that are passed on from generation to generation. Genetics play a role in determining lifespan, healthiness and the likelihood of developing certain diseases. If there is a defect in your genes passed on from your parents, you have little control over this. This will greatly influence your health. Think about someone living with Sickle Cell Anemia, Down syndrome and other genetic diseases.

This is a difficult position to be in — with little control over it. If you can afford the cost of good health care, then you are in a better place. There are advances in gene therapy and hopefully, this will help cure some of the genetic diseases.

3. Income
Income is very important to health. If you can afford a healthy lifestyle, pay for good health care then you should be healthier on average than someone who can’t. You will also worry less and live a happier life. You can read more about the effect money has on happiness here.

4. Lifestyle
Do you drink, smoke or have any bad habit? This will definitely affect your health. Lung diseases are common in smokers. Obesity, heart diseases, liver diseases are common in alcoholics. These are examples of the effect lifestyle has on health. A healthy lifestyle is therefore encouraged. If you want to break a bad habit, you can read an article on it here.

5. Education
Social economic status(SES) is a weighted combination of occupation and education. People with higher SES have better mental health, life satisfaction, freedom from illness and longer life expectancy than people with lower SES — higher SES people are generally healthier.

6. Chance or Luck
This one is tricky. This is something we have no control over. For example natural disasters, war, accidents and other situations that may lead to impairment of health.

FACTORS THAT DETERMINE WEALTH
Several factors can determine the amount of wealth an individual has. Health is one of them.

1. Health

It is only when you are physically and mentally healthy you can think of making money. You can’t perform at a high performance even in the situation where you’re slightly ill. Just ask yourself “How often do you feel like going to work when you have the flu, depressed, stressed, sick”? — almost never. And when you do, you hate it.

2. Environment
If you live in a developed country where the GDP per capita is high, you have more chances of being wealthy than someone living in a less developed country.

The environment you are, also determines what connections and opportunities you are able to get.

3. Family
Inheritance plays a key role in the wealth an individual can acquire. If you’re born into a wealthy family, chances are you will be wealthy too.

Family ties, business, connections and wealth will help an individual to become wealthy.

Genetics also come into play. If your parents are healthy and have good genes, there is a likelihood you have good genes too — remember health is wealth.

4. Work ethic
Hard working people are generally more successful and wealthier than lazy people. Your work ethic determines the amount of energy you put into the work you do.

Working hard alone might not result in wealth as other factors come into play, but it certainly counts.

5. Education
Educated people are smarter, more creative, more ambitious and as a result more likely to become wealthier than other folks who aren’t educated or who are less educated. Just imagine successful doctors, lawyers, accountants, you name the profession.

Self-education and creativity might play a bigger role in terms of great wealth — just think about ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI).

6. Opportunities
Taking a specific step at a specific time. This can make you wealthy. For example, investing early in a business that will blossom years later.
Opportunities present themselves in different ways and the right ones at the right time can open doors.
It’s worthy of note that other factors such as wealth, education and the environment will determine the number of opportunities a person has or is able to create.

Having opportunities is one thing, taking them is another.

7. Creativity
Creativeness and problem-solving have been proven to be beneficial to creating wealth. Most if not all ultra-high-net-worth individuals are creative — Think Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook to mention but a few.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEALTH AND WEALTH
As you can see, the relationship between health and wealth is symbiotic — they work together.

Health is one of the factors that will determine wealth and likewise, wealth determines health.

Rich people make healthier choices than poor people.

When you are healthy you function better, not only physically but mentally as well. You are problem-solving, creative and motivated to go after your dreams.

Wealth is a trigger for happiness. I won’t answer if money can buy happiness or not – happiness is a subjective feeling. I have already discussed that here but it certainly triggers it plus you can afford the things that will make you happy(healthy).

HABITS THAT WILL IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH
Some habits can definitely improve our health. This, in turn, will make us more productive, problem-solving, creative and fall sick less often — which means lesser cost on health care, you save more.

Regular exercise. One of the things we keep emphasizing on ABC Strength is exercise. You need to be fit. If you are not there yet, start with Fitness Basics. Exercising improves your health.

Healthy diet. As you may know, diet goes alongside with fitness. Fitness is 70% diet and 30% exercise. You need to cut out eating junks, unbalanced diet, and drinking sugary drinks.

Go for regular check-ups. The doctor is your friend. You need to go for check-ups. This is especially true as you grow older. You can avoid medical problems such as high BP and heart diseases by going for check-ups. Women can also prevent medical conditions such as breast cancer. It’s optimal you go for checks ups even when you are healthy.

Avoid bad habits. Bad habits such as drinking, smoking, taking drugs have negative effects on health. If you have an addiction, you can learn how to break it here. Other bad habits like having unprotected sex with multiple partners can also result in ill-health health and should be avoided.

Increase your Socioeconomic status (SES). Do you want to enjoy benefits people with higher SES enjoy? Then you need to be higher SES yourself. If you have a high SES, that’s great. If not you can improve your education, knowledge, use of language and occupation. Read books, articles, change your environment and work on other factors that determine health. High SES isn’t about wealth. So work on these things and you are guaranteed to have a high SES.

Go after your passion. If your passion is becoming wealthy — that’s justified. Wealth and health are related. Being wealthy will make you healthier on the average. The process becoming wealthy can be stressful — stress can lead to illness. The point is going after what you have a passion for. It might be religion, love, job etc.

In conclusion, I would like to say the feeling of wealth is subjective. There are people with great wealth, that still feel empty inside and other people with little wealth that feel like they have everything.

The purpose of this article is not another “Why you need to be wealthy” article but to argue that the two — health and wealth are related.

Indeed, I agree that “Health is wealth”!

For more on fitness and health visit www.abcstrength.com

Happiness is state of mind where you’re happy. It is the feeling that comes when you know life’s good and you can’t help but smile.

Everyone wants to be happy or live a happy life. I have never met anyone who finds solace in sadness. Isn’t happiness what we all strive for?

People say money can’t buy happiness. There’s is no doubt that money can buy most of the things we aspire to have – cars, houses, nice meals, luxury, whatever you name it. Some people even think money can buy them their other half – dream partners. And if money can buy many of this things then we should truly be happy.

But there is no doubt money can’t buy peace and health.

I can’t truly answer if money can buy happiness. You will have to answer that for yourself. The feeling of happiness is a subjective one but I can help you understand happiness better.

COMMON TRIGGERS OF HAPPINESS
Money
Money will provide you with the basics in life. A roof over your head, clothes, food. The bare minimum you need to survive and be happy. If you are rich then that’s a plus. You can afford a life of comfort and luxury.

It’s worthy to note that people with high socioeconomic status(SES) have better mental health, life satisfaction, freedom from illness, live longer and are generally happier. While, in people with low socioeconomic status, the rate of depression is higher. So money might not be everything but it is definitely a game changer.

Sex
Sexual release is one of the most powerful triggers of happiness there is. Sex releases “feel good hormones” such as dopamine and endorphins that make us happy. The feeling of sex is so strong that you can easily get addicted to it. So frequent sex might increase happiness. It’s important to note that this feeling is temporary.

Studies have shown that lack of sex for a long period of time results in anxiety, a weakened immune system, lack of confidence, lack of sleep to mention but a few.

Drugs and Alcohol
You’re probably familiar with terms such as “sober” and “high”. “Sober” is a state that ranges from normal to sad while “high” ranges from happy to euphoric. Drugs and alcohol are the most common ways people use to get “high”. This might lead to addiction. You can read on break free from an addiction here.

The happiness you get from this is also temporary. This is, however, worse because it reduces the threshold of happiness to a level that is lower than normal and as a result make you dependent on it.

Studies have shown there is a strong link between serious alcohol use and depression.

Exercise
Exercise like sex and using drugs also releases feel-good hormones such as dopamine and endorphins which will make us happy. This also explains why it’s easy to get addicted to fitness – true for bodybuilders and fitness addicts. Doing fitness/exercise has numerous health benefits.

Exercising is a good way be happy temporarily if you’re feeling down or depressed. It is also recommended as a cure for addictions. When you start doing fitness regularly, you soon start to realize that you feel sober during periods you haven’t been regular.

There are certainly a lot more triggers – eating ice cream, chocolate, doing something you love, spending time with a loved one, a promotion at work, a trip etc. The feeling of happiness is subjective.

HOW TO BE GENUINELY HAPPY
Do you want to be genuinely happy? I mean living a life where you see the positive in it every day. This isn’t easy.

In life, pain is inevitable but suffering is optional. There are going to be days you won’t feel like waking up. Yes, there are going to be days you will be completely knocked down – It might due to depression, an illness, the loss of a dear one. Whatever it might be, these days will surely come. And you have to be prepared for days like this. You need to develop a strong mindset to keep going.

Sadness is a normal human emotion. We have all experienced it as some points in our lives.

Sadness and depression are related. They aren’t good for your health. They both can make your life miserable. Up to 15 per cent of those who are depressed die by suicide. You should always try to be happy or do the things that will make you happy.

My Story

Read more about my story on www.abcstrength.com

Read more on Fitness and Health at www.abcstrength.com

Ever wondered why some people can gain weight easily and why others don’t, why some people gain muscles easily with fewer workouts and why others spend a considerable amount of time and workouts to get the same result. Metabolism plays a big role in fitness and weight loss. This is the process whereby your body converts what you eat and drink to energy.

The energy the body requires to carry out basic functions such as breathing, digestion, blood circulation, regulating hormone levels, growing and repairing cells is known as[b] basal metabolic rate.
[/b]
The higher the basal metabolic rate of your body, the faster the body burns calories and vice versa.

Factors that influence our basal metabolic rate
1. Sex
Men naturally burn more calories than women. This is why men have less body fat than women of the same sex and age.

2. Age
As we grow older, our body basal metabolic rate reduces. We tend to replace muscles with fat.

3. Body Size and Composition
People who are huge and people who have bigger muscles naturally have a higher metabolic rate and as a result, burn more calories. This can be natural through genetics or acquired through exercise and bodybuilding.

4. Genetics
Genetics play a big role in metabolism, metabolic disorders and diseases. The role of metabolism in human health has been studied. The relationship between hereditary and body fat has also been studied.

Weight loss and metabolism
Metabolism alone doesn’t determine if you will gain weight or not. Weight gain depends on a complex of factors which include genetics, ageing, metabolism, diet, hormone regulation, and the impact of the environment on your lifestyle, including sleep, physical activity and stress. All these factors result in an imbalance which results in weight gain. These means that you gain more calories than you burn and these calories are converted into fat.

How to Boost your Metabolism
Even though we all don’t have the same metabolism, we can improve our metabolism by a variety of ways.

Ways we can burn more calories include:

1. Cardio exercises
These include exercises such as running, jogging, walking, cycling and swimming. These exercises are very effective in boosting our metabolism and losing weight. In fact, it is almost impossible to lose weight without doing cardio. If you are new to fitness and unsure of where to start, read our article on Fitness basics.

2. Strength training
Exercises such as weight lifting are important for boosting your metabolism. Although a study found that Cardio is better than strength training for metabolism, strength training is known to burn more calories.

3. Lifestyle changes
Simple everyday lifestyle changes such as limiting stress, relaxing, doing exercise, walking, getting enough sleep are beneficial in boosting our metabolism. They also help the body maintain its homeostasis, thereby preventing imbalances in metabolism which prevents weight gain.

4. Diet
Diet is very essential for metabolism and weight loss. Some diet help to boost your metabolism. Eating fruits, drinking enough water and eating a balanced diet will help regulate and improve your metabolism. And don’t forget to limit junk foods and diets high in cholesterol.

It’s important to know about your metabolism if you are committed to fitness and want to see results. In our article on Genetics, we talked about how some factors which determine our overall health can be attributed to genetics. These things can’t be changed. Your metabolism is one of them. We can’t change it; you should work with it in other to get your desired results.


Read more on Fitness and Health at www.abcstrength.com

Controlling Cholesterol/What to Eat

Since we know high cholesterol isn’t good for our health, it’s necessary to control it. We get cholesterol by synthesizing it in our body or from animal protein.

Diet high in cholesterol

Baked food
Hydrogenated oil
Margarine
Red meat
Full-fat diary
Diet low in cholesterol

According to a report from Harvard Health, 11 food that lowers cholesterol were identified. These include

Oats
Barley and other whole grains
Beans
Eggplants and Okra
Nuts
Vegetable oils
Apples, grapes, strawberries, citrus fruits
Foods fortified with sterols and stanols
Soy
Fatty fish
Fibre supplements
Other ways to reduce cholesterol include taking cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins and doing exercise. The importance of being fit can’t be overemphasized. If you aren’t sure where to start from, then read our article on fitness basics.

Read more fitness and health articles at www.abcstrength.com

Transport and Deposit of Cholesterol

Lipids including cholesterol can’t flow freely in our blood. This will result in clogging of the blood. In other to transport lipids, the body uses specific proteins called Apoproteins. Together with lipids, they form[b] Lipoproteins[/b]. ApoB-48 is responsible for transporting cholesterol esters. Chylomicron is a combination of ApoB-48 and cholesterol esters. Chylomicron degrades to Chylomicron remnant

ApoB-100 is responsible for transporting cholesterol. VLDL (Very Low-Density Lipoprotein) is a combination of ApoB-100 and cholesterol. VLDL degrades to IDL (Intermediate Density Lipoprotein).

In summary, Cholesterol is transported and deposited in the liver. Other lipids are transported and deposited in the adipose tissue.

Good and Bad Cholesterol

Cholesterol can be good and bad. High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) is good cholesterol. On the other hand, Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) is bad cholesterol.

HDL is good cholesterol because it takes cholesterol into itself from the blood, converts it to cholesterol esters and prevents them from precipitating. This can be given back to the IDL or stored in the liver.

IDL degrades to LDL. LDL is bad because of Its ability to undergo oxidization. This can undergo a series of processes and may become foam cells and subsequently, atherosclerotic plaques. Atherosclerosis is the underlying cause of heart diseases. We have discussed this in High Blood Pressure, Why You Need to be Aware and The Difference between Heart Attack and Heart Failure.

Everyone knows high cholesterol isn’t good for fitness and health. High cholesterol in the blood can cause a number of medical conditions ranging from cardiovascular diseases to obesity. Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death worldwide.

But not everyone knows what cholesterol really is, how it causes diseases and how to reduce the amount of cholesterol we eat.

Cholesterol is a type of fat present in large amount in the body tissue, mostly in the liver and blood of humans and animals.

It is necessary to understand that cholesterol is an essential substance for the body and it can be both bad and good. This will be further discussed in this article.

Some advantages of cholesterol

- Synthesizing steroids
- A component of cell membranes
- Synthesizing vitamin D
- Synthesizing bile acids
- Undergoing catabolism to Fatty acids which provide us with energy.

Read full article https://abcstrength.com/2018/10/12/understanding-high-cholesterol-and-how-to-control-it/