LEMON - nature's gift

Lemon is a vitamin C rich citrus fruit that has many benefits for the human body. It increases the immunity of the body, helps clean the toxins from the body, relieves one from many digestive problems, and rejuvenates the skin giving a glowing face. It also contains vitamins like vitamin B, riboflavin and minerals like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium as well carbohydrates.



Nutritional Content of Lemon:
Serving Size: 1 Medium Lemon (58g)
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Amount per Serving
Calories 15 Calories from Fat 0
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% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 0mg 0%
Potassium 75mg 2%
Total Carbohydrate 5g 2%
Dietary Fiber 2g 8%
Sugars 2g
Protein 0g
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Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 40%
Calcium 2% Iron 0%
Thiamin 2% Riboflvin 2%
Niacin 2% Vitamin B6 4%
Folate 2% Pantothenic Acid 2%
Phosphorus 2% Zinc 0%
Magnesium 2% Selenium 0%
Copper 8% Manganese 2%


GOOD EFFECTS:
1. Lemon has medicinal properties and helps in preventing and curing many diseases. Vitamin C has this effect of increasing the immunity of the body against diseases such as common cold, sore throat as well as many bacterial infections. It also helps in speeding up of healing of wounds.
2 Lemon has this cleansing action, in which it helps clean out the toxins out from the body. Most of the foods that we eat are acidic in nature, and too much consumption can lead to various helath problems. Lemons alkalizes the body and thus are important to consume. As lemon is diuretic in nature, it helps to flush out the toxins and harmful bacteria from the system. Lemons are also believed to hasten the weight loss. Fat cells are considered to be one of the most dangerous toxins and as lemons remove harmful toxins, it removes fat cells from the body.
3. Lemon can help relieve many digestion problems when mixed with hot water. These include nausea and constipation. It aids your liver to digest food by helping it to produce more bile.It is also known to help dissolve gallstones.
4. Last but not the last, lemon has this property of rejuvenating your skin. It prevents acne and gives a fresh and glowing look to your face.


LEMON LEMON LEMON - all day long
1. As they say, good beginning is half the job done, so start your day with a glass of luke warm water with one lemon squeezed into it. Many people mix honey with this combination. This adds only taste to the lime water, and does not speed up the fat loss process as honey is a rich source of carbohydrates.
2. If you cant have lemon in the morning, go for plenty of water.Lemon and water both have clarifying actions in your body. It's important to start your day with water because of the time lapse between sleeping and getting up. Water hydrates your body.
3. Always have lemons at room temperatures. They will provide you with more juice. In order to extract more juice, it is good to roll them a couple of times across a table or kitchen shelf.
4. If possible, pour lemon juice onto your salads.
5. Try to have two glasses of lime water per day.

BURN CALORIES WITHOUT GOING TO GYM

Often many of us are hard pressed by time and fail to hit gym regularly. As a result, majority of office going crowd faces weight problems. Going to gym and sweating on a cardio machine is not the only way to burn calories.

Below are listed some methods that if followed can help in keeping a check on weight's problems.

1. Using staircases: Make a habit to use stair case instead of elevator. Be this at office or at your home. for example: If your office is on 4th floor, and your home at 3rd floor. This makes a total of 7 floors and with each floor having an average of 20 steps, you can climb up and down a total of 280 steps just by avoiding the elevator while you leave for office and on way back. This is equivalent to a 10 min running session on a treadmill. Couple this with your tea and lunch breaks in office. So actually you can burn a lot of calories just by saying NO to elevators in your daily life. On an average climbing upstairs burns between 300-500 calories and downstairs has the number close to 200 when done for 30 minutes.

2. Car/Bike Parking: If possible park your vehicle at a distance of 10 mins walk from your work area. This will ensure atleast a 20min walk everyday. In addition to this, everytime you need to go out, you will have to walk to your vehicle. On an average, walking leisurely at a speed of 5Km/hr burns 150 calories in 30 minutes.

3. Shopping: It's a good idea to set out on foot while going for your grocery shopping. Lifting those bags in hands coupled with walking will help tone muscles alongwith your cardio session. Also window shopping before actually getting into a store/mall for purchasing is another effective way of burning calories . This has the combined effect, one it gives you idea of the variety that is available in market, second without realizing you just had your cardio workout.

4. A short walk before sleeping: It is not advisable to have your last meal and head for the bed straightaway. Have your last meal atleast 30-45 mins before you go to bed. Going out for a short slow walk with family is a good idea. However if you can't go out, strolling in your living area can serve the purpose too.


The idea is that you have to change the way you think about how you do everyday things and choose the more active option whenever possible. When you combine these everyday activities with a fitness routine such as running or gyming several times a week, you will observe the results and feel better and fitter.

STAY HEALTHY, STAY FIT!!!

Preview - Mr Olympia 2010

MAKE YOUR OWN GYMNASIUM

TIME - This is something that one is always short off. Many people give this excuse that they dont find sufficient time to go to gym, or they have to wait too long waiting for their turn to use the equipment. So lets dedicate this post to them and how they can overcome their excuse. Setting a small personal gymnasium at home can solve all the above issues. You can exercise at any time you are free, be it a little late at night or finishing your workout before newspaper arrives at your doorstep.

However few points need to be taken care before setting up your own gymnasium.

1. Evaluate your goals: Fitness equipments dont come cheap. So it's important to invest properly aiming specifically at the target that you want to achieve. e.g: If you are looking to shred some kilos, then buying a cardio machine along with a multi gym might solve your purpose. If you can bench close to 150lbs, then buying 1000lbs of weights might only waste money.

2. Proper research of equipment: Do a proper research of the equipment you are inclined to purchase before zeroing onto it. Don't go by someone's else words. At the end of the day, you have to workout and if you are not satisfied with the equipment, it's money down the drain.

3. Pick the right equipment: Pick the equipment as per personal needs only. Commercial equipments are more sturdy. However sturdiness is associated with cost. If you or your family members are only going to use, then go for lighter personal versions instead of commercial ones.

4. Begin Slowly: Do not set up the whole gym at once. Start with one thing at a time, and if you are able to maintain a regular regime, then slowly start increasing the variety that you use. For someone who is looking for muscle building, it is a good idea to start with a set of dumbells, an olympic rod and some basic weights.
This will avoid spending on equipment that one rarely or never uses.

5. Have ample space: Lastly and most importantly, make space for your equipment before setting out on a shopping spree.Measure the dimensions of the space where you want to keep your gym stuff, and purchase equipment as per that. The space should have good ventialtion system. Install a music system or a tv in your workout area. This way you wont miss onto your favourite program while you are attending to your fitness needs.


HAVE A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE!!!!

SUPPLEMENT

Often many people are confused as to whether to go for supplements in their diet. My take on this topic follows a very simple principle: As the name is supplement, they should only be taken to supplement your daily nutritional needs if they can't be fulfilled through natural diet. One should use dietary supplements to supplement his/her diet with essential nutrients that may not be available in sufficient quantity through daily food intake. Complete reliance on dietary supplements without having natural foods in your diet is not a good idea.

For muscle building, atleast 1 gm of protein per 1kg of body weight is needed per day. For athletes and pro's this ratio is even higher. With the lifestyle that most of the people nowadays have, it is difficult to fulfill all your nutritional demands through natural food. So supplements come handy in that picture. But at the same time, where on one side, usage of supplements can be beneficial,improper dosage can cause serious health problems.

Before zeroing on to a particular supplement, one should consult a doctor/physician to ensure that you do not have any physical condition that opposes use of that particular supplement. e.g: People having a history of thyroid in their family are generally advised to stay away from fat burners. Doing a thorough self-research of the product is always a good idea. Try to find some reviews of the product before actually opting for it. Googling helps in this to a large extent.

Go for tried and tested formulas and don't fall for the new dashy and attractive ads.Also. the dosage should be strictly followed. Immediately discontinue the supplement if you experience something unusual with your body. Different body types react differently to similar products. Your body type might be very different from your friend's for whom the supplement worked wonders. Hence blindly starting with that supplement might actually produce counterproductive results.

Lifting Belts - The Support System

Watching people use lifting belts in gym is a common sight. Infact many of them are so obsessed that they keep the belt on throughout the entire workout(whatever the muscle group might be). This is one of the hotly contested topics if belts serve any purpose or not, so lets evaluate if belts are indeed helpful.
There are two schools of thought, one which favors the use of lifting belts arguing they protect lumbar spine from injuries and the other which counters it by saying that belts provide only a false sense of security.






To start with, having a good technique for performing lifts is a must. If the technique is not proper and you are transferring the load from the muscle intended to somewhere else, you might get injured anyway. The belt is only a support system which is intended to share certain amount of load when going for huge poundages of weight. Having a belt for low or medium weight sets is totally uncalled for.

Using belts creates a false sense of security in the mind, and people often start cheating on their sets being assured that counter affects of any wrong movements will be taken care of by the lifting belt. This not only spoils your technique for ever, but also does not allow lower back muscles to develop to share some load when subjected to.

Also, there is a misconception i found among many of my fellow gymers that wearing the belt all the time helps in getting a flat abdominal section. This is absolutely incorrect. Infact wearing the belt all the time, may actually weaken the abdominal muscles in the long run.


Having said all that, I use the belt myself while working out. However i use it only when i am going for heavy poundages for exercises such as squats, dead lifts, and overhead presses. Warming up the body with light and medium weight before moving onto heavy weights is a must even if u plan to use a belt. Don't jump onto heavy weights directly, believe me you can get the same results or even better ones if you go easy on weights but with the correct technique.
Still, if you have to use lifting belts, crank it tight enough to feel it pressed against your lumbar section while you bend backwards.

Ronnie Coleman - One of the greatest off all time