Weight or Cardio??

Weight training is important for a couple of reasons. First, the more muscle you have, the higher your base metabolism will be and the more calories you will burn even at rest.

But the actual numbers involved in a whole day of "extra" calorie burning due to extra muscle are relatively small compared to the number of calories you can burn during an hour of cardio exercise.

The second reason is more important. Whenever you lose weight, you will lose some muscle along with the fat. If you don't exercise and do some strength training, up to 30% of the weight you lose can come from muscle loss, and that isn't likely to be healthy over the long haul. Good strength and muscle tone are essential for functional living and health. You can hold your muscle loss down to 3-5% of total weight loss with moderate strength training.

Likewise, strength training helps to preserve bone density, balance, and many other important things. So, strength train each muscle group at least twice a week--this really only takes about 30-45 minutes per workout.

Better yet, try circuit training, where you lift weights without resting between sets. This method meets both cardio and strength requirements because you keep your heart rate elevated throughout your workout, increasing the amount of calories you burn per workout.

After you've met your 2 strength sessions per week, focus on cardio if your goal is weight loss. You need the cardio for the calorie burning, and also to build and maintain your cardiovascular fitness.

How Important Is Sleep

Sleep is instrumental to good health and even weight loss.
A disruption in your hormones and your different metabolic processes has all kinds of adverse effects. Your fat cells respond to the food you eat differently, based on your hormones.

Sleep loss affects the level of certain hormones, putting your body in a position to gain weight. Sleep loss also can cause a lack of desire to achieve goals because you feel fatigued and "run down."

Sleep is also important in developing lean muscle tissue. When you work out, you are actually tearing your muscle - sleep and proper nutrients help re-build the muscle. Yes, sleep is a big deal! At least 8 hours a day. This will helps you to improved weight loss, Balanced hormones, and more!

Exercises To Strengthen Knees

Experts Answer Your Fitness Questions Question:
Please share with me any exercises to strengthen my knees. Do I have to wait until I lose more weight?

Expert Answer:The best thing you can do is develop strength around your knees without putting a lot of pressure on them. This means your quadriceps, hamstrings and hips.

Here are a couple ideas:

Straight Leg Raises - Lie on your back. Keeping your leg straight, lift it into the air. Hold for 10-20 seconds and lower it to the ground. Do the same for your other leg. You can do variations of this on your back, stomach, and both sides as well. Try two sets of 15 reps to start, and slowly progress from there.

Swiss (Physio) Ball Squats - Place physio ball between lower to mid back and wall. Keep your spine in a neutral position. Spread feet shoulder width apart and make sure toes are pointed forward. Slowly bend knees to 90 degrees, and return to standing position, making sure to keep knees bent slightly. Make sure to place feet far enough in front so when you bend to 90 degrees, your knees don't go past the plane of your toes, but only squat down until just before your knees bother you.

If you can only go down 1/4 of the way, that's fine; simply hold that position for a little while to help build more strength.

You can also try some low impact aerobic exercises, such as rowing, biking, or the elliptical machine.

You can do any of these exercises on a regular basis. About 4-5x a week should be fine.

15 Ways To Boost Calcium Intake

Calcium plays an important role in strengthening bones and teeth, but it also helps muscles and nerves function properly. How much do you and your kids need?

Kids (up to age 11): 700-900 mg daily
Pre-teens & Teenagers: 1,000-1,200 mg daily
Adults (ages 18-50): 1,000 mg daily
Adults (51 and older): 1,200 mg daily

There are many easy ways to boost your calcium intake by sneaking these foods into your family's diet:
1 - Add beans to soups, chili, and pasta dishes.
2 - Grate low-fat cheese over soups and salads.
3 - Enjoy a smoothie made with yogurt.
4 - Use milk instead of water in soups, breads, sauces, or salad dressings.
5 - Add milk to tea or coffee in the morning.
6 - Try plain yogurt as a vegetable dip.
7 - Stir some nuts into a yogurt cup as a snack.
8 - Include leafy vegetables in baked casseroles such as lasagna.
9 - Buy juices and cereals fortified with calcium.
10 - Drink skim milk instead of soda at lunch.
11 - Eat hot oatmeal made with milk for breakfast.
12 - Snack on crunchy broccoli instead of potato chips.
13 - Substitute plain low-fat yogurt for recipes that call for sour cream.
14 - Treat yourself to pudding made with skim milk for dessert.
15 - Take a daily supplement, available in capsules or chewable tablets.

HEALTHY HERBS FOR YOU...Part 2

Here it goes....

1 - Daun Limaun Perut (Kaffir Lime Leaves)
Rich in antioxidants with cancer-prevention properties and beta-carotene. Useful for the treatment of colds and coughs.

2 - Daun Kesum (Small Water Pepper)
Full with vitamins A & C, potassium, calcium, phosporus and beta-carotene. Aids digestion and relieves stomach pains.

3 - Daun Kunyit (Indian Turmeric Leaves)
Rich in antioxidants, and has anti-cancer properties. Its dried rhizomes are ground for use in curries and dyes. It is also used to relieve flatulence and diarrhoea.

4 - Serai (Lemon Grass)
Has allergy-relieving and antiseptic properties. Used widely in cooking and fragrances, is used to relieve indigestion, headaches and itching, to warm the body.

5 - Bunga Kantan (Torch Ginger Flower)
Rich in protein, fiber and calcium, ectract has anti-microbial properties. Used as a perfume and the leaves used to clean cuts and scabs.