Almost 108 million Americans were overweight or obese in 1999. Until now, obesity continues to be a serious problem and is predicted to reach epidemic levels by the year 2020.

One way to prevent this scenario is to make people aware of the risks of being overweight or obese.

Here are some diseases that you are putting yourself in risk of if you are carrying a lot of extra pounds:

1. heart disease

2. stroke

3. diabetes

4. cancer

5. arthritis

6. hypertension

Losing weight helps to prevent and control these diseases.

The quick weight loss methods which have spread like fire these days do not provide lasting results. More often than not, dieting methods which involve dietary drinks, avoiding food groups and supplement or pills do not work. If they do, the results are just temporary.

It is better to rely on a healthy weight loss option which will provide lifetime results. You have to set realistic goals and not expect to lose a lot of pounds in a short span of time.

Here are some tips on how you can lose those unwanted pounds the healthy way:

1. Do not starve your self.

The key to a healthier way of losing weight is: Do not diet.

You may seem happy and feel that you are losing those unwanted flabs on your belly and thighs by skipping meals. But remember that this would not last long. Your body cannot tolerate having insufficient food to fuel the energy that you use up everyday.

If you get used to skipping one or two meals a day, your stored calories will be used up instead of the energy that should have been provided by your meals. So if you just eat one huge sandwich in one day, it will end up straight to your problem area (i.e. highs, buttocks, hips).

2. Start your day right.

Mothers always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Have a healthy meal in the morning to jump-start your metabolism.

Your food intake after you wake up will be used to burn fat all day long.

3. Eat small, healthy meals frequently.

Five small-serving snacks per day is better than three hearty meals. Eating more frequently, and in small servings, can prevent over-eating. This will also increase your metabolism and make calories burn faster.

4. Decide on how much weight you want to lose.

Keep your goals realistic. In the long run, it is virtually impossible for you to lose 40 pounds in 2 weeks. Have a mindset that you want to eat healthy to stay healthy for the rest of your life.

Once you have decided on a weight loss plan or program, stick to it and make sure that you follow your own set of dieting rules.

5. Drink lots of water.

Your body needs sufficient water to burn fat and keep your cells hydrated and healthy.

6. Avoid too much sugar.

Plan your meals around lots of fruits and vegetables, some whole grain bread, brown rice or whole grain pasta for that carbo fix that you need, plus lean meat and protein rich-foods. Sweets, sodas and pastries should be once-in-a-while indulgences only.

7. Watch your fat intake.

Fat is not the culprit to being overweight. You need this to keep your weight at the proper level.

There is such a thing as healthy fats. Olive, peanuts and canola oil have them. Tuna, salmon and mackerel have omega-3 fats which is good for the heart.

8. Exercise.

Leave your car if you are only going a few blocks from home, take the stairs instead of the elevator, jog, cycle or skate. Use these activites and other home chores if you are too lazy to go to the gym and take exercise classes. Make sure that you do this regularly and you will not even notice that you are already shedding pounds with these mundane activities.

It does not matter how much weight you plan or need to lose. What is important is that you set realistic goals for yourself.

Go slow. If you have already lost 5 or 6 pounds, give yourself a break then try to lose the next 5 pounds.

Eat healthy, drink lots of water, have enough sleep and exercise. This will give you a higher chance of losing weight and improving your health, which would result to a new, healthier you.

Circuit training is a fun way to get fit.

It is also an excellent form of training to help people to stay motivated as you get a variety of exercises to perform in the course of a training session.

A well-designed fitness-training program will also target all the muscles of the body so you will be getting a full body workout at each session.

If you are not a member of a gym it is possible to design your own circuit-training program for home.

The equipment you have will determine much of the program but it is possible to design a circuit-training program based around exercises that only use your own body weight.

It can also include indoor or outdoor activity and include walking and running as part of the training program.

A stereo at home or an ipod for outside training can add to the fun just as you would get as a member of a gym. I know that music really helps me keep going.

As with all forms of training it is good to keep a record of your results and always challenge yourself to do better.
It can be quite surprising sometimes how we forget how much we have progressed over the course of a few weeks or months, if you have records you will be able to see your times improving, the weight that you are using increasing.

Try this circuit following a warm up..

Work for 30 seconds and then take 30 seconds rest.

Bodyweight Squat

Push Ups

Walking lunge

Modified pull ups using the gym rings

Burpees

I did 3 sets of this, and it was plenty ! ;0p  If you are just starting out 1 time through is great, then next time go for 2 times through.

Dont forget to stretch after your workout.

What I love about this type of exercising is that you do not need to do cardio training as well, you can do this anywhere, OK so the pull ups need some sort of bar, gym ring, but there are plenty of playgrounds out there that sit empty !

I know that I have been quiet here, but with moving last week and this week preparing for my exam lets say life has been CRAZY.

I did not get my usual workouts in, but with Mal not being around due to working and a Martial Arts trip I pretty much did it on my own (not complaining ) but moving boxes, furniture etc all day for 4 days you do not need to do anything else.

Yesterday I took my last Can Fit Pro personal training exam and I passed, so I am all finished and really looking forward moving forward. There are a few more smaller hurdles to get through, but they are all business related, I have also been working on a new site that will have all the information of what I will be offering.

As you know from my blogging, I do not like to use machines, I much prefer body weight, kettlebells, medicine balls, sledgehammers, tires, so this is how I will be training my clients. I want to show people that you do not need expensive gym memberships, equipment, that you do not need to spend hours working out.

Most of all I want to show people that working out is FUN.

<p>&lt;p&gt;Just been for a run around our neighbourhood, You should make sure that you are not always doing the same sort of cardio, your body adapts to the way you train very quickly and you need to keep your body guessing in order to not reach a plateau.&lt;/p&gt;<br />
&lt;p&gt;This week, I have run tabata sprints, and then stair intervals so today I did what I like to call the long slow boring run, basically a 5km run at a pace that I can keep all day. :0)&lt;/p&gt;<br />
&lt;p&gt;When I got back, I went into to the garden for some hammertime. Im thinking that I still look so girly when Im doing these, but hey I still got it done, next time Ill got for the heavier hammer. After we move I think that we will get the tire set up in a way that we do not have to hammer so low.&lt;/p&gt;<br />
&lt;p&gt;I did tabata hammering and then made use of my gym rings and did some modified pull ups (no video of the pull ups though!)&lt;/p&gt;<br />
&lt;p&gt;Anyway, enjoy the quick video ! LOL

Just got back in from my mornings workout, super busy today so ….

I warmed up by doing some joint mobility exercises and then ran I believe that its around 2 KM down the off leash area.

I ran the stairs by my house, 10 times ( 1 xdown and up= 1 )

Then I did 30 second circuits with the kettlebell, 12 exercises for a total of 6 minutes.

swings

then passed the kettlebell around the body

1 arm swing

around the body

1 arm swing

around the body

cleans

around the body

cleans

around the body

bottom up kettlebell press

around the body

The workout was finally finished with lots of stretching :0)

Have to give this little timer a shout out again ! LOL It is awesome.

Today I went to the gym, and I did 3 tabatas …

1. 10.5 mph 1% incline

2. 15% incline 5 mph

3. 12 lb wall balls

Before doing the tabatas on the treadmill, I ran 2 miles, I got totally bored going at the same speed so I decided to get the tabata sprints in. After doing that and the incline tabata I thought I was going to die. Of course me being me, I had to take the sprints up to a super fast pace, no point doing it half hearted !

I could hear the beep over my ipod, which is cool, not sure if the beeping was annoying the people around me, but whatever, I was there to WORK !

I basically worked out for 12 minutes, but if you take the 10 second rest period off its 8 minutes.

8 minutes of working my butt off and I am out of there !

Tomorrow I have loads on so I will be working out at home, my plan is to take my kettlebells over to the green space by me and get some interval training in, I do not need to do tabatas every time so I’m thinking of 1 minutes circuits.

I spent longer stretching after my workout that the actual working out. All too often people miss this important aspect out of their training routine and then they wonder why they are getting injured and super sore.

Each time you work out it should ALWAYS have a warm up and cooldown and stretching. Depending on your workout either your strength training or cardio training in the middle.

It has come to my attention over the last couple of months that Bootcamps are popping up all over the place here in Calgary, well actually not just Calgary but all over the world.

What concerns me is the rate that they are popping up.

Each town/city/province has different rules and regulations in regards to using “green spaces”, and there are also rules in place for business licences etc.

Before you take the plunge and sign up for a Bootcamp, please take the time to ask the following questions …

1. Is the person teaching the classes, qualified to do so?

2. Does the person teaching the class hold a current First Aid/CPR qualification?

3. Are they insured?

4. Do they have permission from the town/province/city to use the “green space”? If so they will hold a certificate showing exactly where they are allowed to go, what times they can use the space, they are required to have this with them all the time.

5. Do they hold a business licence? This will also be a certificate, and it will show you that they have met all the requirements from the town/city/ province.

6. If you are training early in the morning/late at night is there adequate light to ensure your safety?

What concerns me is that trainers/just anyone are just setting up bootcamps with out following the regulations of the town.city, if you sign into one of these, you may not be protected, and should you have an accident there will not be adequate insurance in place. You may be trained by someone who does not have the correct knowledge and you will be trained in a way that is dangerous to your health and safety.

Also if they do not have permission to use the space and the city visits them, they will be shut down, and you may loose your money.

Bootcamps can be fun, safe and get to your goals, but I ask you to ask a few questions before signing up for one in your area.

Well Ive had my Gymboss Interval Timer for a few days now, have to say I love it.

It is simple to use, and has a clip on the back so you can clip it onto your workout clothes. This week I have used it to perform tabatas as well as circuit training.

The beep is loud enough to hear over my ipod, so I still get to listen to my music working out. My girls commented that they could hear it beeping when I was outside and they were in the house ! (the patio doors were open though)

I was thinking about what intervals I could use this for, you can set it to run with 2 different times, and up to 99 sets, so there are endless possibilities.

1. Tababtas (work 20 secs rest 10 secs repeat x 8 )

2. Circuits - you can programme the timer to whatever you like, I set it to 1 minute and 20 sets. I just went from 1 exercise to the next no rest.

3. We run a Martial Arts school, and they do sparring, so we can use it for the 3 minute rounds with 1 minute rest for 5 sets. (Dont think they will like us for this one) Whats great is that once you get the timer set up, and press start you dont have to touch it again, great if you have your bag gloves on.

4. I was thinking about my friend who is learning to run, well, she can set it to run for a couple of minutes and then it can beep for the walking phase.

5. Finally I will be able to run my intervals outside, I always avoided it as I hated having to look at the stopwatch. With this after the warm up, I can press start and then sprint for a minute and then recover for 3-4 minutes.

This tiny piece of equipment really has endless possibilities, it really was the best $20 I have spent in a long while.

It is so versatile, as you can programme it so many ways.

If any of you already use it, let me know some of your workouts.