Fat Loss 101: How to Lose Fat Fast (with Free Fat Loss Diets)

You can lose fat fast and forever without waking up at 5am to run on an empty stomach, without exercising 6x/week, without feeling hungry all the time or cutting your favorite foods forever and without expensive supplements.

You only need 3 things to lose fat: strength training, healthy nutrition & cardio. This post will give you a simple, efficient fat loss plan so you can get your body fat to dream numbers while still have a life & eat normally.

1. Get Stronger. Strength training increases cardiovascular fitness, strengthens joints & bones, builds muscle, improves flexibility, … And it also helps fat loss.

• Maintain Muscle. More strength is more muscle. Strength training builds muscle and prevents muscle loss so you don’t get skinny + fat.
• Burn Fat. Strength training prevents your metabolic rate from going down when dieting. This means more fat loss.
• Stick to Diet. Exercising positively influences your eating habits. You’ll stick to your diet better if you do strength training, losing more fat.

You’ll get best results doing a free weight routine of compound exercises like Squats & Deadlifts. Check StrongLifts 5×5: it only takes 3×45mins/week.

2. Eat Healthy. Eat whole, unprocessed foods 90% of the time. Whole foods come as close as possible to their natural state: without added sugars, fats, sauces, … Buy raw foods and cook them yourself.

• Protein. Necessary to build & maintain muscle so you don’t get skinny + fat. Protein also satiates and has the highest thermic effect. Eat a whole protein source with each meal: beef, poultry, fish, dairy, whey, etc
• Veggies & Fruits. Fill your stomach, but usually low in calorie. Also high in fiber, water, vitamins & minerals. Eat veggies & fruits with each meal: spinach, broccoli, kale, asparagus, apples, oranges, etc.
• Healthy Fats. Fat doesn’t make you fat, bad nutrition & lack of exercise do. Healthy fats help fat loss: they satiate and slow down digestion. Eat healthy fats with each meal: fish oil, olive oil, mixed nuts.
• Water. Thirst can make you think you’re hungry. Avoid soda, alcohol and fruit juice. Drink 2 cups water with each meal and sip water during your workout. Green tea and water with squeezed lemon are OK too.

3. Eat Carbs Post Workout Only. If you’re like me and 70% of the population, you’re carb intolerant: excess carbs make you fat. Although you need carbs for energy, it’s easy to overdo it. Cut your carb intake.

• Eat Less Starchy Carbs. Eat proteins, veggies, fruits & healthy fats with each meal. Carbs from veggies & fruits are OK, this isn’t a zero carb fat loss diet. Don’t eat starchy carbs except post workout.
• No Workout = No Carbs. If you do strength training 3x per week, you can eat starchy carbs 3x per week post workout. Eat proteins, veggies, fruits & healthy fats with all other meals.
• Eat Whole Carbs Only. Whole carbs promote fat loss and take longer to digest. Avoid white carbs. Eat whole carbs only: brown rice, whole grain pasta, whole grain bread, oats, quinoa, …

4. Eat More. Frequent meals prevent hunger by keeping your blood sugar stable. Frequent smaller meals also decrease your stomach size over time, which means you’ll feel full sooner. Eat every 3 hours.

• Eat Breakfast. Build the habit of eating breakfast and try one of these breakfast recipes. Cook your food for the day while making breakfast.
• Eat Post Workout. The only meal where you can have carbs to replenish energy stores. Whole meal of protein & carbs or post workout shake.
• Eat Every 3 hours. 6 smaller meals per day instead of 3 large ones. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, pre-bed and 2 snacks.

5. Add Cardio. Excess cardio burns muscle instead of fat, causing the skinny + fat look. Never do cardio only. Add cardio to speed up the fat loss you get from strength training & healthy nutrition.

• Moderate Intensity. 60-70% of your max heart rate. Breathing heavier than at rest, not gasping. Your goal is fat loss, not exhaustion.
• 3×45mins. Start with 15mins cardio post strength training 3x per week. Build up to 3×45mins per week by adding 1min each workout.
• Elliptical Trainer. Aka the crosstrainer. There are many cardio machines you can choose from, but this one remains my favorite.

Fat Loss Strategies. Now that you know what to do, you need to make it as easy as possible to apply the above fat loss tips. Follow the next 8 strategies, even if they sound counter-intuitive to you.

• Buy Healthy Foods Only. Enough for your whole week so you can stick to your fat loss plan. Don’t buy junk food – avoid temptations.
• Prepare Food in Advance. Cook your food for the day on waking up or when you get back from work. This takes about 1 hour.
• Make Double Portions. Speeds up preparation. Prepare 12oz chicken and eat half at lunch and half at dinner.
• Eat The Same Every Day. Removing choice kills cravings and makes you see food for what it is: fuel for your body. Switch it up every 3 weeks.
• Eat at Fixed Times. Don’t wait until you’re hungry or feel like eating. Eat every 3 hours. Build consistency.
• Take Food with You. Take food to work, to school, to the movies, etc. This ensures you’re eating foods that will make you lose fat.
• Eat Before Going Out. Avoid ending up eating junk food because you’re hungry. Eat before you leave home and take food with you.
• Eat Junk Food 10% of The Time. You can eat 4 junk meals/week if you eat 6x/day. This actually helps fat loss. Eat out so you can’t overdo it.
• Track Progress for Motivation. Pictures, body fat, measurements and strength gains. Aim for 2-3% fat loss/month (use a fat caliper).

Example Fat Loss Diets. To lose fat: proteins, veggies, fruits and healthy fats with each meal. Carbs post workout only. Example fat loss diet:

• Breakfast: eggs with tomato & bell peppers, orange, green tea
• Snack: cottage cheese with apple
• Lunch: chicken, bok choy, tomato, chicory, olive oil
• Snack: mixed nuts
• Post workout: ground round, brown rice, mixed veggies, banana
• Dinner: chicken, spinach, baby carrots, pear
• Pre-bed snack: cottage cheese, berries, ground flax seeds, fish oil

Remember to get variation using your 4 junk meals per week. You’ll get bored of eating the same every day after about 3 weeks. Make slight changes, keep the structure. 2nd example fat loss diet, using morning workouts.

• Breakfast: eggs with spinach, orange, green tea
• Post Workout: ground round, whole grain pasta, tomato sauce, banana
• Lunch: turkey breast, broccoli, apple, olive oil
• Snack: cottage cheese with mixed berries
• Dinner: turkey breast, spinach, baby carrots, pear
• Pre-bed snack: cottage cheese, chocolate whey, flax seeds, fish oil

Don’t waste your time counting calories: you won’t get fat eating unprocessed foods. Just eat your stomach full and prepare your own food so you have total control over the ingredients. Aim for 2-3% fat loss per month.

source:Strong Life

President Obama opens viral front in health war

Facing an onslaught of opposition to health reform, the White House on Monday opened a “Reality Check” website with a viral tool aimed at online combat on everything from “rationing” to euthanasia.

The site incorporates lessons learned from the Obama campaign’s “Learn the Truth About Barack Obama” site, which covered everything from the birth certificate to William Ayers to “a recent e-mail smear falsely claims Michelle ordered room service, but she never even stayed at the hotel.”

Aides to President Barack Obama say the key is to respond to viral rumors with an aggressive, equally viral response.

“We're offering the site and tools to empower individuals across the country to take this content into their own hands and share it among their networks,” a senior administration official said. “That's the sort of bottom-up process that got us to the White House, and it's what's going to deliver meaningful change to the health insurance system.”

Kevin Smith, communications director for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), said in response: “While Democrats are playing defense, Republicans are educating the American people about the cost and consequences of the Democrats’ government takeover of health care and promoting our better solutions to lower health care costs, increase access, and preserve the doctor-patient relationship.”

The new offensive came as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer charged in an opinion article in USA Today that disruptions at congressional town halls have been “simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades.”

At the same time, the Democratic National Committee is urging supporters to visit the local offices of their senators and House members. DNC interns called lawmakers’ offices to find out their hours of operation. Organizing for America, the Obama grass-roots network now operated by the DNC, offers custom-tailored e-mails telling supporters where and when they can show up.

The new White House site has built-in tools allowing users to e-mail every page and video to their friends and families and is linked to social networks with preloaded messages to encourage folks to share the content. The videos feature administration officials putting a face on reform by tackling issues in a casual, straightforward way.

There's also an FAQ that, when e-mailed, includes a long message full of the facts about reform — in a similar format to some chain e-mails that offer what the White House considers a long list of falsehoods. The 2,000-word FAQ covers everything from “rationing” to “a lot of seniors seem to be concerned about a provision in the House bill that would provide counseling for end of life care. They think it sounds like the government will come along every five years and require you to talk about how you want to end your life."

The site will be promoted heavily on the White House’s rapidly growing social networks and with an e-mail to the WhiteHouse.gov list.

Linda Douglass, communications director of the White House Office of Health Reform, said Sunday on CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: “One of the things we learned during the campaign was that if you give people all the facts, … people really paid attention. They understand what the truth is when they see it.”

Macon Phillips, White House director of new media, offers a tour of his team’s handiwork, in a pre-dawn blog post: “The first set of videos addresses a wide scope of topics and debunks some of those common myths:

— CEA Chair Christina Romer details how health insurance reform will impact small businesses.

— Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes tackles a nasty rumor about euthanasia and clearly describes how reform helps families.

— Matt Flavin, the White House's director of veterans and wounded warrior policy, clears the air about veterans' benefits.

— Kavita Patel, M.D., a doctor serving in the White House's Office of Public Engagement, explains that health care rationing is happening right now and how reform gives control back to patients and doctors.

— Robert Kocher, M.D., a doctor serving on the National Economic Council, debunks the myth that health insurance reform will be financed by cutting Medicare benefits.

— In a video first released last week, Linda Douglass from the White House Health Reform Office addresses fears about the end of our private insurance system and reiterates that if you like your current plan, you can keep it.”

source:http://www.politico.com

Fitness (biology)

Fitness (often denoted w in population genetics models) is a central concept in evolutionary theory. It describes the capability of an individual of certain genotype to reproduce, and usually is equal to the proportion of the individual's genes in all the genes of the next generation. If differences in individual genotypes affect fitness, then the frequencies of the genotypes will change over generations; the genotypes with higher fitness become more common. This process is called natural selection.

An individual's fitness is manifested through its phenotype. As phenotype is affected by both genes and environment, the fitnesses of different individuals with the same genotype are not necessarily equal, but depend on the environment in which the individuals live. However, since the fitness of the genotype is an averaged quantity, it will reflect the reproductive outcomes of all individuals with that genotype.

As fitness measures the quantity of the copies of the genes of an individual in the next generation, it doesn't really matter how the genes arrive in the next generation. That is, for an individual it is equally "beneficial" to reproduce itself, or to help relatives with similar genes to reproduce, as long as similar amount of copies of individual's genes get passed on to the next generation. Selection which promotes this kind of helper behavior is called kin selection.

The concept is particularly difficult to understand and frequently misunderstood; J.B.S. Haldane when discussing it with John Maynard Smith is reported to have described it as "a bugger".

credit: www.wikipedia.org

Air quality and health

Key facts

• Air pollution is a major environmental risk to health and is estimated to cause approximately 2 million premature deaths worldwide per year.
• Exposure to air pollutants is largely beyond the control of individuals and requires action by public authorities at the national, regional and even international levels.
• The WHO Air quality guidelines represent the most widely agreed and up-to-date assessment of health effects of air pollution, recommending targets for air quality at which the health risks are significantly reduced.
• By reducing particulate matter (PM₁₀) pollution from 70 to 20 micrograms per cubic metre, we can cut air quality related deaths by around 15%.
• By reducing air pollution levels, we can help countries reduce the global burden of disease from respiratory infections, heart disease, and lung cancer.
• The WHO guidelines provide interim targets for countries that still have very high levels of air pollution to encourage the gradual cutting down of emissions. These interim targets are: a maximum of three days a year with up to 150 micrograms of PM₁₀ per cubic metre (for short term peaks of air pollution), and 70 micrograms per cubic metre for long term exposures to PM₁₀.
• More than half of the burden from air pollution on human health is borne by people in developing countries. In many cities, the average annual levels of PM₁₀(the main source of which is the burning of fossil fuels) exceed 70 micrograms per cubic metre. The guidelines say that, to prevent ill health, those levels should be lower than 20 micrograms per cubic metre.

Background

Air pollution, both indoors and outdoors, is a major environmental health problem affecting everyone in developed and developing countries alike. The 2005 WHO Air quality guidelines (AQGs) are designed to offer global guidance on reducing the health impacts of air pollution. The guidelines first produced in 1987¹ and updated in 1997² had a European scope. The new (2005) guidelines apply worldwide and are based on expert evaluation of current scientific evidence. They recommend revised limits for the concentration of selected air pollutants: particulate matter (PM), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), applicable across all WHO regions.

Key findings in 2005 Air Quality Guidelines:

• There are serious risks to health from exposure to PM and O3 in many cities of developed and developing countries. It is possible to derive a quantitative relationship between the pollution levels and specific health outcomes (increased mortality or morbidity). This allows invaluable insights into the health improvements that could be expected if air pollution is reduced.
• Even relatively low concentrations of air pollutants have been related to a range of adverse health effects.
• Poor indoor air quality may pose a risk to the health of over half of the world’s population. In homes where biomass fuels and coal are used for cooking and heating, PM levels may be 10–50 times higher than the guideline values.
• Significant reduction of exposure to air pollution can be achieved through lowering the concentrations of several of the most common air pollutants emitted during the combustion of fossil fuels. Such measures will also reduce greenhouse gases and contribute to the mitigation of global warming.

In addition to guideline values, the AQGs give interim targets related to outdoor air pollution, for each air pollutant, aimed at promoting a gradual shift from high to lower concentrations. If these targets were to be achieved, significant reductions in risks for acute and chronic health effects from air pollution can be expected. Progress towards the guideline values, however, should be the ultimate objective.

Particulate matter

Guideline values

PM2.5	PM10
10 μg/m3 annual mean 25 μg/m3 24-hour mean	20 μg/m3 annual mean 50 μg/m3 24-hour mean

The 2005 AQG set for the first time a guideline value for particulate matter (PM). The aim is to achieve the lowest concentrations possible. As no threshold for PM has been identified below which no damage to health is observed, the recommended value should represent an acceptable and achievable objective to minimize health effects in the context of local constraints, capabilities and public health priorities.

Definition and principle sources
PM affects more people than any other pollutant. The major components of PM are sulfate, nitrates, ammonia, sodium chloride, carbon, mineral dust and water. It consists of a complex mixture of solid and liquid particles of organic and inorganic substances suspended in the air. The particles are identified according to their aerodynamic diameter, as either PM₁₀ (particles with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 10 µm) or PM_2.5 (aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.5 µm). The latter are more dangerous since, when inhaled, they may reach the peripheral regions of the bronchioles, and interfere with gas exchange inside the lungs.

Health effects
The effects of PM on health occur at levels of exposure currently being experienced by most urban and rural populations in both developed and developing countries. Chronic exposure to particles contributes to the risk of developing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as of lung cancer. In developing countries, exposure to pollutants from indoor combustion of solid fuels on open fires or traditional stoves increases the risk of acute lower respiratory infections and associated mortality among young children; indoor air pollution from solid fuel use is also a major risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer among adults. The mortality in cities with high levels of pollution exceeds that observed in relatively cleaner cities by 15–20%. Even in the EU, average life expectancy is 8.6 months lower due to exposure to PM_2.5 produced by human activities.

Ozone (O₃)

Guideline values

O3

100 μg/m3 8-hour mean

The previously recommended limit, which was fixed at 120 μg/m³ 8-hour mean, has been reduced to 100 μg/m³ based on recent conclusive associations between daily mortality and ozone levels occurring at ozone concentrations below 120 µg/m³.

Definition and principal sources
Ozone at ground level – not to be confused with the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere – is one of the major constituents of photochemical smog. It is formed by the reaction with sunlight (photochemical reaction) of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NO_x) from vehicle and industry emissions and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by vehicles, solvents and industry. The highest levels of ozone pollution occur during periods of sunny weather.

Health effects
Excessive ozone in the air can have a marked effect on human health. It can cause breathing problems, trigger asthma, reduce lung function and cause lung diseases. In Europe it is currently one of the air pollutants of most concern. Several European studies have reported that the daily mortality rises by 0.3% and that for heart diseases by 0.4 %, per 10 µg/m³ increase in ozone exposure.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂)

Guideline values

NO2

40 μg/m3 annual mean 200 μg/m3 1-hour mean

The current WHO guideline value of 40 µg/m³ (annual mean) set to protect the public from the health effects of gaseous NO₂ remains unchanged from the level recommended in the previous AQGs.

Definition and principle sources
As an air pollutant, NO₂ has several correlated activities:

• At short-term concentrations exceeding 200 μg/m³, it is a toxic gas which causes significant inflammation of the airways.
• NO₂ is the main source of nitrate aerosols, which form an important fraction of PM_2.5 and, in the presence of ultraviolet light, of ozone.

The major sources of anthropogenic emissions of NO₂ are combustion processes (heating, power generation, and engines in vehicles and ships).

Health effects
Epidemiological studies have shown that symptoms of bronchitis in asthmatic children increase in association with long-term exposure to NO₂. Reduced lung function growth is also linked to NO₂ at concentrations currently measured (or observed) in cities of Europe and North America.

Sulfur dioxide (SO₂)

Guideline values

SO2

20 μg/m3 24-hour mean 500 μg/m3 10-minute mean

A SO₂ concentration of 500 µg/m³ should not be exceeded over average periods of 10 minutes duration. Studies indicate that a proportion of people with asthma experience changes in pulmonary function and respiratory symptoms after periods of exposure to SO₂ as short as 10 minutes.

The revision of the 24-hour guideline for SO₂ from 125 to 20 μg/m³ is based on the following considerations:

• Health effects are now known to be associated with much lower levels of SO₂ than previously believed.
• A greater degree of protection is needed.
• Although the causality of the effects of low concentrations of SO₂ is still uncertain, reducing SO₂ concentrations is likely to decrease exposure to co-pollutants.

Definition and principal sources
SO₂ is a colourless gas with a sharp odour. It is produced from the burning of fossil fuels (coal and oil) and the smelting of mineral ores that contain sulfur. The main anthropogenic source of SO₂ is the burning of sulfur-containing fossil fuels for domestic heating, power generation and motor vehicles.

Health effects
SO₂ can affect the respiratory system and the functions of the lungs, and causes irritation of the eyes. Inflammation of the respiratory tract causes coughing, mucus secretion, aggravation of asthma and chronic bronchitis and makes people more prone to infections of the respiratory tract. Hospital admissions for cardiac disease and mortality increase on days with higher SO₂ levels. When SO₂ combines with water, it forms sulfuric acid; this is the main component of acid rain which is a cause of deforestation.

WHO will assist the Member States in sharing information on successful approaches, on methods of exposure assessment and monitoring of health impacts of pollution.